The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 4, 1929, Page 6

DATLY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1929 Published by Nati Awa., In Union Squa , ‘ To the many thousands of class-conscious workers who will assemble Saturday evening at Madison Square Garden, the fifth anni- versary of the great daily newspaper of the working cl something more than music ind dancing. In that big hall will be thou- sands of New York workers (as well as these trom near-by towns) who have fought hard yattles on the picket-line with the knowledge hat the Daily Worker was the voice of yattle that held the fighting courage to- yether. Workers from the shops and fac- ories, workers from every needle-trades in- lustry, textile workers from as far away as ?assaic, oil workers from the Jers id axi-drivers, subw: ass y workers and wor he building t thousand ‘om every section of the industries of th jiggest world-metropolis of imperialism— vill assemble there to greet with love the jirthday of the fearless fighting organ of their class, Dancing—yes. Music—yes; the little joy: hat our class can gather in the midst o: struggle are necessarily combined with th nore solemn duties of such an occasion. But also the spirit of battle will be there. Behind the Daily Worker is the fighting tlass Party of the working cla: Without he Workers (Communist) Party the Daily Vorker would be nothing at all; it exists ind grows and fights by virtue of being the central organ of the Party of leadership of he working class. And therefore the lighter Fh ai e | cultural machines and tractor gangs, in our grain SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only): $4.50 six mos. $2.50 three mos. By Mail (outside of New York): $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 $6 a year so many big strike struggles and one of the leaders of the Party, and Robert Minor, edi- tor of the Daily Worker, will appear for a short time on the program to extend the wel- come of the revolutionary Daily to its friends. All to Madison Square Garden Saturday night! Special attention must be devoted to the collective and Soviet farms, and to the methods of contracting for future harvests. These things may not be re- garded solely as means toward the enlargement of our resources in market grain. They are at the same time a new form of alliance between the work- ing class and the decisive masses of the peasantry. We have already reported in detail on the system of pur sing the crops before hand, and we need not enter into this again. It is a self-evident fact that the method of wholesale crop-purchasing contracts greatly facilitates our task of gathering the indi- vidual agricultural undertakings together, of lend- ing permanancy to the reciprocal relations between town and peasant farm, and of thereby strengthen- ing the alliance between town and country. The col- lective agricultural undertakings, and especially the Soviet farms, must be especially emphasized as levers greatly promoting the reorganization of agriculture on a new technical basis, they bring about a com- plete revolution in the minds of the peasantry and help them to throw off the lethargy of traditional routine. The appearance of tractors, great agri- “egions, cannot “ail to have an effect upon the pea- sant farming undertakings. The aid given the pea- sants in the neighborhood, in the form of seed, machines, and tractors, will certainly be appreciated by them and taken as a sign of the power of the workers’ state and of its intention to open up fresh possibilities of progress for agriculture. Hitherto we have not taken this into consideration, and even today we are probably not according it sufficient | consideration. But to me it seems that at the |beginning of October, which by its “LIBERALISM” AND FASCISM—BROTHERS UNDER THE SKIN 8%: By Fred Ellis A strike has been going on in] North London (Edmonton) since the yortion of the evening of gay festival will be valanced by the message of the Party to the yvorkers who gather to do Jaily Worker. Secretary of the Workers *arty, William Z. Foster, scarred veteran of Jay Lovestone, Executive honor to the (Gommunist) | These are the chief ways and means to which we must turn for the solution of the grain problem. | (From “The Grain Problem,” a speech by Stalin re- ported by Inprecorr Number 87.) present time it is the most important eontribution ich the collective and Soyiet farms can make to- ard the solution of the grain problem. | HE spectre of “dangerous thoughts” is haunting bourgeois } pan. “Dangerous thoughts” are routing in the heads of the ju- nile proletarians. “Dangerous oughts” are spreading wide among |e working masses and are taking ot in the army and navy. “The ngerous thoughts are _ alien oughts and we must nip them in e bud or our empire will be thrown to an unparalleled national crisis” | declared and reiterated the spok en of the Mikado government unching the attack and terror sainst the labor movement in \pan. The causes of the “dangerous oughts” are not far nor difficult be found. Precisely the extreme ploitation ahd oppression of the orking class and peasant masses 1 the bourgeoisie and the landlord: e enforcement of the speed-up sys- m and the léngth g of the ork day, which flings hundreds of ousands of proletarians on the reets of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagova, ¢, the cuts in wages and the ‘essing of ihe standard of | ed ' the workers down cven lower; e systematic and persistent per- eution and suppression of strikes, ‘asant riots, mass demonstrations id clast-conscious proletarian or- mizations—all combined causes id drivessthe working masses to langerous thoughts,” to thoughts ‘ revolutionary working class con- ypts, and the crystallization of a finite left wing within the Japa- ise labor movement. ‘The newly formed left wing de- ops rapidly into a leading center ' the class struggles not only those '.an economic character and im- ediate nature, but also of political ‘tivities and far reaching revolu- onary aspirations. The left wing ly, (Trades Union Council in score Mass Jailings of Japanese Workers the Nippon Rodo Kumiai Hyogi-| militants in November, ‘during ‘the pan), the Musan Scinon Domei| hands coronation of the Mikado, whose are already stained with (Pxoletarian Youth League) and the | working class blood. ° Ronoto (Werkers’ and Peasants! |Party), were all broken up. In April again mass arrests all over the country, and, above all, the promulgation of the “Bloody Law” —a law calling for a death penalty or at least ten years’ imprisonment for everyone seeking to change the |present form of the Japanese state. fass arrests again in August .and more mass arrests last weeks ent in full sway, with the employ At} the same time the mass trials are | Sixteen thousand militant trade | unionists will be thrown into jail be- cause the coronation of the Mikado, the personification of the most pre- datory, insolent, cunning and de-! ceitful imperialism, is going to take | place. The Pan-Pacific Trade Union Sec- | retariat on behalf of its affiliated | organizations, expresses its most emphatic protest egainst the mass arrests and working class persecu-| tions. Down with the Mikado! of the most cruel and barbarous tor-| On the other hand, the P, P. T.| tures. Especially the most outrage- jous and brutal tortures are being jinflicted by the Mikado spies and police to the comrades ‘arrested in Korea and Tokyo. ‘ Last but not least the authori- are making speedy arrange- s for the round-up of 16,000 jt me: U. S. extends its fraternal com- jradely greetings to the toiling and struggling working class and pea- sant masses, especially to the ar- rested comrades. PAN-PACIFIC TRADE UNION SECRETARIAT, Shanghai, Oct. 15, 1928. Captured U. S. Flag at Lenin Memorial Meeting Mute but deadly evidence of Wall Street’s bloody aggression against the Latin American working class by the use of “deyil dogs” may be |placed on display in Madison Square |Garden the evening of January 19 |in connection with the great Lenin memorial meeting. A shell-torn American flag captured by General Sandino’s revolutionary troops from | United States marines and now in the hands of Tava Gustavomachavo, | representative of Nicaragua’s insur- gent leader in Mexico City, may be |shipped to New York in time for | the mass demonstration against the sesses not only the struggles of |etowing war danger. te daily needs and the fight for| The memorial arrangements com- ‘ee speech, free press, freedom of rike, erganization, ete., but it also tomotes the struggle for the over- row of the open and violent bour- 20is dictatorship and the establish- ent of the Workers’ and Peasants’ overnment in Japan. Likewise the ft wing propaganda for the inde- mndence of Korea and Formosa, as ell as the campaign for the “Hands ‘f China” movement which threat- aed become a serious obstacle ‘and invasion of China, and a isturbing factor teparation for imperialist war. irstly, in preparation of war : Soviet Russia and the teat Chinese Revolution, and, sec- adly, for a war against its imper- ist rivals, against the United tates of America in particular. Therefore the smash-up of the left jing. Therefore right after the eneral elections the Tanaka gov- mment began a vicious attack st the left wing and militant rations. Thus, on March 14, one thousand left wing trade ts and militants were ar- simultaneously the left tions dissolved, name- 4 in the general i the Japanese imperialist aggres- | mittee, fully cognizant of Nicara- |gua’s political and economic en- |slavement by Wall Street has taken {steps to bring the battered colors to |New York so that American work- ers may view the captured symbol of American imperialism. i The letter to Tava Gustavomacho | follows: “January 3, 1929. Tava Gustavomachavo, | Representative of Nicaragua Work- ing Class Government, | Mexico City, Mexico. Dear Comrade: As you know the revolutionary workers of Greater New York and other American cities are arrang- ing protest demonstrations in con- ‘nection with the fourth anniversary jof the death of Nicolai Lenin ‘against the growing war danger. |The meeting in New York will be |keld on January 19. Our aim is to arouse the millions of working people of our country to |the full significance of America’s j intervention in the domestic affairs of other nations in Wall Street's mad desire to make the whole of | Latin America a mere hinterland of the United States. You will agree Worker offices that the ruthless maneuvers of the| Washington government for posses+ sion of world markets is steadily | leading to a situation which will] undoubtedly eventuate in a new war. | growing war danger more effective | and conclusive, we ask you to send| us the battered American flag in your possession which gives mute evidence to the wholesale slaughter of your people by United States marines, and the courage of your troops under the brave hero, San- dino. (Signed) Lenin Memorial Day Committee, Workers (Communist) Party, | 26 Union Square, New York City.” The Lenin rally will be addressed by Jay Lovestone, executive secre- tary of the Workers (Communist) Party, and William Z, Foster, In addition to the speeches, there will be an entertainment of high char- acter, An act in the form of a Soviet sports spectacle will be of- fered by the Labor Sports Union. Numbers will be rendered by the Freiheit Gesangs Verein (all sec- tions) under the leadership of Lazar Weiner. Selections appropriate to the memorable occasion will be) given by Jascha Fischermann, noted Russian pianist. SEAPLANE RACES. WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UP).— The Schneider Cup Races for sea- planes will be held next fall in Eng- land, the National Aeronautic Asso- ciation announced today. The original Isadora Duncan Dancers of Moscow will perform | in a special Program of Re’ t' vol onary Dances at the Fifth Anni- of Daily Worker. at the Dally | versary Tickets |bers of the Tailors and Garment spirit and tenacity has compelled the admiration and support of wide sec- tiers of London workers, and} aroused attention all over England. | The strikers are the factory em- ployees (over 800 in number, the great majority women and young girls) of a well-known clothing firm, Rego Clothiers, Ltd., which has increased its profits every year since 1921, and now have an or- dinary capital of £252,000, six ser- jenths of which consists of bonus shares, | Until five months ago the factory! of this firm was established in an-| other district of London, Shoreditch, | and the conditions there were suf-| ficiently tolerable to ensure smooth | working. The workers were mem-| Workers’ Union, and were able to, secure some consideration of ere | ances as they arose. A girl striker describes the atmosphere of this! period as one of “contented slavery.” | Lately, however, exploitation inj the factory has been intensified, by | subdivision of processes and other |means, and complaints have been systematically ignored. The trans- ferring of operations to the Edmon- | ton factory, which is part: of a re- | organization that will increase the firm’s profits by 75 per cent, neces- sitated the girls spending out of |their lower wages about 4s, a week in extra fares. The girls demanded that their union should take these |matters up, and at the beginhing of September a trade union representa- |tive accompanied a deputation of ‘machinists to the management. The result was a temporary increase, of 44d per garment, to be reviewed in a month’s time, Such an ad- vance was of course ridiculously in- adequate. The average wages earned during that month was still from 5 per cent to 15 per cent less than before the reorganization. An ex- perienced pressor, for example, a typical case, earned 25/—a week, To make our protest against the /out of which she would have to| spend 3s/d in farés, and 9/— in rent. Many girls earned very much Tess. In spite of this, at the end of the month the firm repudiated their promises to review the wage ques- tion: refused to- meet any repre- sentatives of the union, struck a blow for non-unionism by support- ing the action of certain renegades from the union who refused to con- tinue their membership. Naturally, the workers expected their union to fight this attack, which not merely | perpetuated the present bad condi- tions, but aimed at destroying the organization with a view to facilita- ting further attacks. To their ex- treme indignation the Tailors’ and Garment Workers’ Executive would not sanction a strike; so without of- ficial recognition they came out, and under the leadership of a strike com- mittee, with the Communist London organizer of the T. G, W. U. at the head, have fought for six weeks against the employers and the bureaucrats. They are demanding, as preliminaries to the establish-| ment of better wages and conditions, recognition of the union and no em- ployment of ‘non-unionists. It took a week to perfect the strike machinery, and from that time all London, and soon the provinces, were made aware of the strike. All the shops where Rego Clothiers re- tail their goods are. being continu- ously picketed; in addition, a motor lorry full of girls has made tours of the shops, broadcasting through a megaphone a call “to have no dealings with the firm until it pavs trade union rates and recognizes the ‘London Girls Are Fighting Powerful Clothing | Emplyers; Struggling Since October } An Heroic Strike in London draughtsmen, | blind workers, com- positors, and others. ‘Varied Devices For Robbery of Unions’ Funds, By WILLIAM Z. FOS@TER. | Continued To the foregoing methods of | thievery prevalent in the unions | could be added many more, such as | actual embezzlement of funds from | the treasury, which often takes | place, sometimes by false bookkeep- | ing, but more than once, especially | in Chicago, by safe-cracking and fake holdups; selling of charters (the Parquet Floor Layers’ Union of New York was offered a charter in the United Brotherhood of Car- penters and Joiners for $2,500); | utilizing the unions for bootlegging | and gambling purposes (the Cooks’ | and Waiters’ Unions of Chicago and | various other cities are now con- | trolled by bootleggers); contingent | funds (John L. Lewis used up $10,- | 000 through his contingent fund during the past six months); load- | ing up the union payroll with the | names of relatives and friends, etc. By all these devious means the |misleaders of the workers enrich | themselves. Thus are produced such | weeds as Joseph D’Andrea of the ; Tunnel Miners’ and Sewer Diggers’ | Union of Chicago. D’Andrea was a duke among the Italian building la- borers. As early as 1911 he sported | two automobiles and two chauffeurs. | He sparkled with diamonds on his | income of $30,000 per year, gathered | through graft from the employers, | pilfered initiation fees of the work- lers, a percentage upon the work- | ers’ wages, and in other corrupt | ways. Like many of his pals in the | building trades unions, he carried the union treasury in his pocket and gave an account to nobody. His word was law in the union. He was shot and killed in 1914, just as he was leaving the union hall. His funeral blocked traffic in the Loop district, four bands blared, eight | carriages carried the flowers, thou- sands marched. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”—of capi- The police have of course at: talism. tempted in many places to hamper ae movements, prohibiting their marches, following them round on union.” Deputations to other fac-, {tories (London Woollen Company, /|thusiasm prevails among the girls. ,ani Schneiders’) where work was|By open-air meetings, and bands of | part of the strikers. being sent from the Rego, induced |the workers there to refuse to handle | special songs, but international revo- it; two truck-loads of work sent to|1 Leeds (in the North of England) | came back untouched. The news-| papers were watched, and deputa=} tions visited those (including the \labor “Daily Herald”) which printed|and bus garages, false statements about the strike, to | demand corrections, Recruiting for | \the trade union is being successfully have been voted by union branches carried on among sympathetic work- | bicycles and endeavoring to drive jthem home, but have met with un- expectedly svirited resistance on the ers in other shops, The greatest en- singers (singing not only their own! been spared by the employers to bully girls into submission. They ionary songs es well) they carry ;have tried emplcying blacklegs (a their message to all parts of the city | girl striker was arrested for throw- and collect funds for the strike. |ing flour over one of them); but it Good contributions have been made |is not pleasant to go to work at the by the transpor: workers at the tram | Rego factory and face the scorn and by other |of the nickets. They have sent fore- workers at their shops, at the cire-|men to the homes of some girls, but mas and in the street; and sums/in every case they have been sent about their business. They sent each of electrical workers, shipbuilding—.| individual employee a registered let- |ter of dismissal and intimated that LABOR BUREAUCRATS AND NEGRO WORKE By GEORGE PADMORE | “The reason why Negyo workers ‘eannot be organized into the labor | sterling qualities of Negro labor. movement is because they live in| segregated areas and are controlled by boss-politicians whose interest is | identified with the employing class,” | was the explanation given for the! lack of economic organization among | Negroes, by John P. Frey, one of the bureaucrats of the reactionary American Federation of Labor, at the recent National Inter-Racial Conference held in Washington, D. |C. Frey is editor of the Iron Mould- ers Journal, and a lecturer to col- leges and employers associations. | Frey, whose great boast is that he was the first trade unionist to at-| tempt to organize a Negro union in the South, was invited to address the conference on the subject: “Race | Problems and the Labor Movement.” | Apologetic Speech. This labor faker began his ad- dress—the most apologetic presenta- tion made before the petty-bourgeois intellectuals who constituted the con- | ference—by excusing the reactionary | attitude and manifestation of race |prejudice existing among the mis- |leaders of the A. F. of L. by saying that it was unfair to criticize Green and his cohorts, because they were not as openly hostile to the Negro workers as the church and many people who call themselves Chris- tians in America, The speaker then stated that ef- forts to organize Negro mechanics did not meet with success, because he found that whenever Negro workers became organized they were faced with two problems: First they were viciously discriminated against by \the white workers, especially in the |skilled industries, and second, Negro political leaders are .paid by the capitalists to discourage organiza- tion and to crush their militancy. Helps Only Skilled. Again, most Negroes belonged to \the unskilled class of workers, and the A. F. of L. was more concerned today with the skilled workers, said Frey, whose position within the last ten yeats was greatly affected by the mechanical improvements taking place in industry. Negro workers were therefore the greatest suffer- ers, not because of their color, said Mr. Frey, but chiefly because they represent that stratum of the work- ing class which is unorganized. It was therefore the duty of Negro workers to acquire education and skill and thereby raise themselves out of their present status into the | be assured of protection along side the skilled white labor, Frey stated. |any applications for re-instatement | must be made early, or it would not that one girl returned! And the Executive Committee of the T, G. W. U.? While the workers have been fighting for the preserva- In conclusion, Frey paid a glow-|tion and recognition of the union ing tribute to ihe skill, ability and{|which they have built up for their |defense, and from which the offi * jdraw their salaries, the Executive ‘i has not only refused strike pay but stor United Struggle. {has withheld from the branch con- Frey’s address, despite its open ducting the strike the sum of £70 betrayal of a large section of the|due to it for its current expenses. American working class, is a frafk| At the same time it has demanded expression of the deep-rooted decay the immediate payment of a portion |and corruption within the ranks of of local union funds (£37) which the A. F. of L., which only goes to in the ordinary way would go to confirm the charge of bankruptcy headquarters, but in the cireum- levelled against Green and other la-| stances has been used to sustain the bor aristocrats. In the present class strikers. It is due to the solidarity struggle which becomes more and|of other sections of workers that |more acute daily, the Negro workers | strike pay has been forthcoming, can only look to the Communist | and is even increasing, | Party and the ‘eft wing of the labor! Rymors are circulating that the movement to organize them in the treacherous officials have been con- a fos |e No pains have | |be considered; the net result was | common struggle of labor against capital. | The white worker, especially in jthe ranks of unskilled, must unite | With their black brothers in purging | ithe labor movement of its present | misleaders, and building their unions |on a program of militancy for the \final victory of the working-class lover the parasitic capitalists an* \their lackeys who today control the |A. F. of L. | |New York Central ‘Not | |Able to Raise Wages’ | But Electrifies Track A plan now reaching the suryev- iny stage for electrification of New | York Central lines to Buffalo, using | Power from Niagara Falls, caused |General Electric stock to soar 23 |Points on the stock exchange yes- terday. The New York Central is quadrupling tracks ‘wherever the four-track system is not in use al- ready. No raise in wages, to ac- company the apparent prosperity of the company, is contemplated. Sec. 2 Units Order Now For Daily Distribution All unit organizers and, Daily Worker agents must see to it that all the units of Section 2 place their orders for the special edition of the Daily Worker to be distrib- uted on Saturday. Orders should be placed at the section headquar- ters, All units which did not meet must see to it that orders are placed. : All ticket money * and other rank of skilled labor, where they will) money collected during the Fifth | |Anni vrery Drive must be turned in no later than tonight. ducting conversations with the Masters’ Federation, with a view to issuing a joint statement repudiating the strike; and in the light of their conduct throughout, it appears highly probable that the rumors are well-founded. The Labor Party, true to its re-) luctance to be associated with the| militant class struggle, has been very niggardly of support. It was only after considerable pressure that they allowed a party of thirty Rego workers to appear at their big | rally at the Albert Hall, to sing and collect for the strike; and though the audience gave them a magnifi- cent reception, not .a word appeared in the “Daily Herald” about it. In sharp contrast stands the role of the Communist Party and Young Communist League in the strike. As already mentioned, the leader of the |strike committee is a Communist; |Communist speakers actively assist at their meetings, branches of the Party have collected and voted funds for the strike, And the Communist | ority Movement and Left Wing, has given prominence to the struggle from the beginning, calling upon men trade unionists to give active help to the young girl pickets. The Rego strike, although not com- parable in dimensions to the great strikes which have riveted world- wide attention recently has all the characteristic features of the strug- gles of the present period, when the workers have io fight not only the employers and the police but re- actionary officialdom also, and can only find the necessary leadership in the Communist Party and the Nieft Wing. If the strikers maintain their present militant tactics there is every prospect of a victory that will encourage othes ©x¢’'-ns of the e~* “'d'needle-trades workers ta do likewise, press, together with that of the Min-! Misusing Union Funds. { The huge funds often possessed by the unions have proved more | than tempting to many corrupt la- bor officials, hence the development of various means of misusing and misappropriating ther, Jugeti them around so that the inter them comes to the f: to the unions is a favorite method. Thus Wm. Ryan, then secretary- treasurer of the Illinois Miners and later secretary-treasurer of the In- | ternational, instead of depositing $250,000 of District 12 funds in the authorized Springfield banks so that the interest would accrue to the union, lent this sum out to local bankers (to his own profit) for | speculative purposes. Eventually Mr. Ryan got a $6,000 job from his friends the coal operators. Union funds invested in co-opera- tives have often suffered mysterious fates. In fact the whole American co-operative. movement reeks with stories of graft and incompetence. The recent collapse of the string of co-operatives among the. Illinois miners left behind it the usual stench, Let us take a case in point of eo-operative mismanagement. In 1923 striking bakers in New York assessed themselves $60,000 to start a co-operative bakery. In three months the money was gone. It was reported that the bakery was bought for $24,000, although it was not worth $10,000. Only $7,000 worth of goods were produced during its 12 weeks of operation. It was finally sold for $5,000. Thus at least $50,- 000 went up in smoke. But no one who knows the American labor | movement was surprised. Such in- cidents are common-place. | To Be Continued |Crouch and Pershing | at Banquet Sunday; to Tell Experiences “Experiences With U. S. Imper- | jalism” will be a general subject |under which Paul Crouch, and_ George Pershing will tell their ex- Periences in the U. S, army over- seas, at a banquet Sunday night a’ 8 p. m., at the Civic Club, 18 Eas| 11th St. The banquet is being arranged b; |the Esperanto section of the All- Amererica Anti-Imperialist League, |of which Crouch is national secre- tary of the United States section. However, most of the speeches will be in English and the others will be translated from Esperanto to English. Once Soldiers. Crouch is a former soldier in Hawaii, and was sentenced to forty years in prison for organizing a Communist club there, His sentence was cut down and he was finally re- leased thru protests of labor, Pershing is a former soldier, member of the Hawaiian Commu- nist League, and is a relative of General “Black Jack” Pershing. He is not in sympathy with any of the general’s ideas, Ragozin Will Address Women on ‘Trotskyism’ Ray Ragozin, woman work leader in the Workers (Communist) Party, will lecture on “Trotzkyism” in the auditorium of the United Workers Cooperative House, 2700 Bronx Park East, Monday evening at 8 oclock. The lecture has been arranged by Council 11 of the Uwited Coune!) ‘of Working Womé \ ‘