The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 17, 1929, Page 1

PROMINENT COMMUNIST LEADERS TO " THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS For a Workers-Farmers Government To Organize the Unorganized For the 40-Hour Week For a Labor Party ~ ¢ aily Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., under the act of Marek 3, 1879. SPEAK AT LENIN MEMORIAL AT “GARDEN” SAT. NIGHT FINAL CITY EDITION Vol. V., No. 325 Published dnily except Sunday by The National Dally Worker Publishing Association, inc. 26-28 Union Sq. New York, N. ¥. NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1929 | SUBSCRIPT’ DN RATES: In New York, by mail, Outside New York, b Price 3 Cents UNUSUAL MUSIC PROGRAM AT BlG LENIN MEMORIAL Jay Lovestone, Foster | Weinstone, Gitlow to Speak New Music of U.S.S.R. Will Protest Murder of Mella A musical portrayal of modern political history, climaxed by the march of Russia’s proletariat into power, will be a feature of the Lenin Memorial Meeting this Saturday evening in Madison Square Garden. Instrumental and vocal epics and ballads of a quality to inspire every militant worker will be offered at the mammoth demonstration in pro- test against the foul murder of Julio Mella, the continuance of the White Terror, and against Wall Street’s plans for a new imperialist war, There will be a dramatic piano recital by Jascha Fischermann, noted artist of the Soviet Union. With finished technique the former musical inspector for the U.S. S. R., will review the suffering and tra- vail of Russia’s masses under the ezar and the desperate fight against the iron rule in 1905. Then he will detail in music the renewal of the fight against tyranny, the over- throw of czardom, the betrayal of the masses by the bourgeois Keren- sky government and the final tri- umph of the workers and peasants under the Bolsheviki. Fischer- mann’s numbers will include the “Elegy of 1905” and the celebrated musical epic “1917” by Kruschenc, as well as the stirring revolution- ary piece, “Insurrection.” Composer Is Worker. Kruschene, composer of “1905” and “1917” is himself.a-worker and took an active part in the revolu- tion as a member of the Bolshevik Party. bi Opening the elaborate musical program will be the Freiheit Ge- sangs Verein, For the first time since its organization almost six years ago the revolutionary singing society will appear in full force at Madison Square Garden. Under the leadership of Lazar Weiner, the chorus of 250 from the Bronx, Pat- erson, Brownsville, Downtown and Co-operative sections, will open with the “International.” The second number will be “ur Leader,” the words by I. A. Ruench and’the mu- Continued on Page Two COLOGNE MEET FOR JOHNSTONE World Anti-Imperialist League for Release COLOGNE, Germany, Jan. 16.— Demand for the release of Jack Johnstone, their representative to the Trades Union Congress of India, arrested by the Anglo-Indian gov- ernment, will feature the special ses- sions here today of the Executive Committee of the League Against |Imperialism and for Colonial Inde- | pendence, which is the world organi- jzation of the Anti- Imperialist Leagues. The executive also de- | nounced the murder of Julio Mella, leader of Cuban workers by the U. S. ; Puppet government of Machado in Cuba. Mella was shot by Machado’s' \assassins in Mexico City a few days | ago. Arrested at Labor Meet. Johnstone was arrested at Djaria, India, two weeks ago, when he at- tended the All-India Congress of Trade Unions, in session there. He had given interviews to Indian pa- pers, condemning the brutal exploi- tation of the Indian workers by the native and imperialist employers. Nothing has been heard from him since his arrest. i Indian Condemns Empire. While Jack Johnstone lieg in a British jail in India, in danger of his life, and the International Labor Defense, All-America Anti-Imperial- ist League, Trade Union Educational \ League, American Negro Labor Con- ' gress and other labor bodies are hold- ‘ing a series of mass meetings about ‘he country to effect his release, an Indiana Nationalist leader here, Sail- endra Nath Ghose issued a state- ment yesterday condmening British imperialism, and declaring that the British government’s definition cf the Kellogg treaties makes them an instrument of war to hold many mil- lions in Britain’s colonies in cruel and complete political subjection, iS) ix Burned to Death in Tenement Fire- Six persons, three of them children, were burned to death yes- terday in a firetrap tenement at 165 E. 112th St. The fire started in a factory in the basement of the building. Overcrowding and in- adequate protection against fire, the result of the unscrupulous greed of the landlords, and the willingness of the city authorities to close their eyes when “inspecting” such workingclass traps, were the cause of the burning of these workers and their children. Hundreds of families in this and adjoining buildings were forced out into the cold, and their furnishings ruined by fire and water. (Story on Page 2) Working Women Expose ‘Peace’ Pact and Pacifists ‘AGGUSE WEST OF By JULIET STUART POYNTZ. (Special to the Daily Worker) a> “BRITAIN IS FOE,” ‘Dont Sharpen’ SENATE KEYNOTE ON CRUISER BILL Swanson, Democrat, in Speech for Big Navy Uses “Pacifism” To Grip South America “Pass Bill Or England Will Be Pleased” WASHINGTON, | that the first war measure, the de- lusive Kellogg treaties, are out of the way, the Senate is taking the Jan, 16.—Now next step toward a world-wide im- | perialist conflict. It is debating, and will soon pass, the bill for fif- teen more cruisers, an airplane car- rier, and some other naval equip- | ment—a direct and immediate threat | | toward England, unless the war ‘on \the Soviet Union starts first and {the war with England comes next. Calls It “Olive Branch.” Today Senator Swanson, demo- erat, of Virginia, re-opened the cruiser discussion, and speaking in favor of the republican administra- | tion measure for a larger navy, | tried to throw over the war menace the usual mantle of “pacifism.” Threatens Other Nations. “Té competition continues after the passage of this bill, the respon- Continued on Page Five CALL BUILDING WASHINGTON, Jan. 16. — For) expressing the only protest raised | in Washington to the imperialist! pact of Kellogg and challenging it| at the conference of pacifist women | when it was ratified, representatives | of working. women’s organizations | ROBBING INDIANS Say Has Understanding With Land Grabbers were ejected from the conference to- | day. | WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.—Secre- The ratification of the pact by a ey aad Diet tate . -ag ;charged today with participating in vote of » to 1 in the Senate WAS |the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy accompanied by a chorus of pacifist! District land grab in New Mexico, sentimentality, with the women’s | py which a large acerage of land be-| conference to investigate the cause longing to the Pueblo Indians and and cure of war singing soprano to reputed rich in oil is to be taken conceal the designs of the imperial- | away for private exploitation on the ists. The ratification of the pact |plea that it will make the soil better | yesterday was simultaneous with for agriculture. the attempts of the bourgeois wom- 3 ‘4 Evidence was rendered before the | en’s peace conference to whitewash Indian Affairs Committee of the | |steal, and Investigator Marshall de- | jclared that “it is a fair deducticn” | | that an understanding exists between | Secretary of the Interior West and) its imperialist background. The only voice raised in Wash- ington against the pact was raised by working women's organizations, TRADE T0 FIGHT Workers Hit Treachery “Demand and take the five day week with an increase in pay and | ability,” is the word of the progres- sive group in the electrical workers union to the other building trades | workers, The progressive electricians have been fighting the reactionary, dis- unity policies of the Broach gang in their union for a long time. They recognize fully that Broach’s nego- tiation of a separate peace with the | Anti-Broach ‘Electrical we will help you to the limit of our | on Razor Blade Is All Bunk! WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 16.— Timid shavers needn’t worry about going to jail because they resharpen |safety razor blades. Y | At a tariff hearing before the | Ways and Means Committee of the House, it was admitted by. spokes- men for the Gillette Safety Razor Co., that the warning they print on| each blade, “Not to be Resharpened,” | is all the bunk. | | H. W. Kemway, of Boston, at- |torney for the Gillette Co. yesterday |admitted to the committee that the }admonition against honing or Te-| | stropping is printed on the blades to | | encourage users to throw them away |and buy new ones instead, | The hearing was held because the |razor concern demanded continuance lof the huge ad valorum duty of 30 | per cent plus one cent a blade for |foreign blades, KELLOGG STATES PACT UNCHANGED ‘New Bill to Disarm Foes of Wall St. WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.—The jreport of the foreign relations com- |mittee interpreting the Kellogg | anti-war pact has no affect on the |treaty itself, said Secretary of State | Kellogg at the state department to- day. | The interpretation of the senate ‘committee will not be communicated |to foreign governments because it has no connection with the treaty, |the secretary let it be known. | To Disarm U. S. Foes. Rep. Korell, Rep., Ore., introduced la resolution today to prohibit the exportation of arms, munitions or implements of war to nations vio- ‘lating the Kellogg peace pact. Kerell said his resolution ad- vances a policy toward international relations in which the United States | should assume leadership. The Korell bill, if passed, will give the U. S. state department a clear | excuse to do what it would probakly do anyway, under the treaty, that is cut off military supplies from any nation, especially in South America, which it wishes to lose a war, merely by ruling that the country opposed U.S, WARSHIPS OFF HONDURAS INNEW THREAT New York Bankers in Demand for Armed Intervention Another Nicaragua? See U. S. Intrigue for Fonseca Naval Base NEW ORLEANS, Jan, 16.—Isaac Lowenstein and Sons, has landed here enroute to Washington to de- mand of the State Department the intervention of U. S. in Honduras to “protect” his bank- ing business in that country. Lehman claims that a civil war is “threatening” in Honduras, and that there has been some im- perialist agents killed there, al- though whom, when, where and hcw is so far a secret he does not reveal. He says citizens of interior towns are “fleeing to coastal ports” and he wants the U. S. Navy to invade Hon- duras to “prevent war” which he claims is coming from a clash be- tween three rival factions of the Conservative Party of that country. ni eee) WASHINGTON, Jan, 16.—Ad- miral Charles F, Hughes, chief of naval operations, today admitted that the U. S. destroyer Denver, was “visiting the northern coast of Hon- duras” and that four warships of the “special service squadron in Lehman, agent in Honduras of the) Wall Street banking house of M./ armed forces | | | | | | { S. Parker Gilbert, Agent General of Reparations, in charge of collect- ing the indemnity from Germany which she forfeits for losing the war. He was cted by J. Pier- pont Morgan for this job, and i now in America consulting his bo also Coolidge, Kellogg, and Mellon, about the council of experts for the Dawes Plan, ‘SECOND STRIKE ‘MEETING TONIGHT Needle Union Mobilizes | Dressmakers | Mobilization plans for the ap- |proaching struggle for union condi- tions in the dressmaking industry | are materializing speedily. The sec- jond district meeting of all dress- | makers employed on 39th and 40th . is to be held tonight, immedi- tely after work at the uptown of- ice of the union, 480 Seventh Ave. |Feland, who asked Nicaraguan waters” under command| At this meeting, just as at the of Real Admiral David F. Sellers | first district meeting, held Tuesday will be available “in case of trouble | night, the workers will discuss the in Honduras.” | practical problem of ways and means It is understood that Yankee | whereby the strike call will be res- agents are busy stirring up the | ponded to by the largest mass of Honduran Conservative Party to | dressmakers. revolt against the new liberal ad- | ministration, in expectation that | the U 3. can find an excuse to send | Prepared to Fight. The dressmakers, with long tra- dition of struggle against the em- in marines and make Honduras a colony as well as Nicaragua. ©The reason for this is very sim- ple. On the west. coast of Central America in the Bay of Fonseca, washing the shores of three small republics, Nicaragua, Honduras and Salvador. The U. S. by its lackey Chamorro, got a naval base grant in the Bay from Nicaragua. However, Honduras and Salva- cor objected as they, too, have an dor obected as they, too, have an ployers and against their agents in | labor’s ranks, show that they realize ithe bigness of the task which con- fronts them. The first meeting showed that it is clear in all minds that all the forces of the enemy will be lined up to fight them. But \the workers are prepared to cope | with this because working conditions | are so low that it is by now unbear- able and also because the strike SANDINO TELLS U.Sa “GET OUT ORWE FIGHT ON” No Peace Talk Can Be Had While Marines Occupy Nicaragua Ecuador Deports Man Exposing U.S. Loss TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Jan. 16.—General Augustino C. Sandino, chief of the Nicaraguan army fight- ing for the liberation of that coun- try from Yankee imperialism, has given a hot reply to U. S. marine corps commander, General Logan Sandino to quit fighting. In reply Sandino demands that U. S. marines get out of Nicaragua as n “indispensable” condition to any consideration of peace parl This letter, which is also addr d to Admiral David Sellers, commander of the U. S. navy in Central Amer- ica, sa Hits U. S. Intervention. “Patriotism compelled me to repel force by force, and I must absolute- ly reject any interference by your government in the internal affairs of our country and demonstrate that the sovereignity of a people cannot be discussed, but only defended by arms in my hand. “It is in this sense that I say that I could enter into a settlement for peace only with Moncada, in spite of the fact that he became a traitor to the Liberal Party, which error he can correct by means of a compro- mise to be concluded with the Nica- raguan people and the I ‘beral Par- ty by respecting the terms which we shall propose at the proper op- portunity, Asks Date of Troops’ Withdrawal. “To arrive at an effective peace settlement; we propose as the first condition that it is indispensable Continued on Page Five TEXTILE UNION © | will be led by the organized strength employers is partly for the purpose of splitting the strategically well placed and powerful electrician’s union away from the other unions, |to U. S. imperialism has not properly “abandoned war as a policy of in- jternational relations.” interest in the Bay of Fonseca. | of all sections of the pleedls Trades The dispute was taken to the Cen- Workers Industrial Union. h tral American court of justice, which| The next district meeting of dress- decided that Chamorro had no right makers will be held the early part which organized a counter-demon- stration against the pact and the pacifi: Representatives from var- ious cities and organizations took Continued on Page Five | part in the demonstration, Among ee 7S | MELLA MURDER the unions represented were the| — : | Needle Trades Workers’ Industrial} PROTEST GROWS Union, the National Textile Work- ers’ Union, the Millinery Union, ‘Gil Yields to Masses; | é | Machado Spies Here Knit Goods and others. Women represented the Workers (Communist) Party, working women’s organizations of New York, Chicago, New England Working Women’s Federations, United Coun- Pons t cil of Working Women, the Finnish! MEXICO CITY, Jan. 16.—The} |mass movement of resentment at the | |murder of Julio A. Mella, is affect- ing the govefnment of Portes {Gil to | the extent that he has, by telegraph, | fired the head of the secret service and Lithuanian Federations of Working Women, the Mother's Leagues of New England and the |and announced that his government | was going to “clear up” the murder. | Valente Quintana, chief of ‘the | Hungarian Workers Club, Picketing demonstrations © were held before the senate building against the pact and against the pacifists who came to beg the sena- and making it more difficult for the other unionists to obtain common cemands for a general week and increases in wages. The progressives point to John Ha dent of the Building Trades Council, as playing into the hands of Broach and the contrac- tors, by widening and deepening the split between the unions, by threat- ening to have the electricians ex- pelled from the Building Trades Council and by delaying the regular negotiations with the employers’ as- sociation as long as possible, and even agreeing to postpone the five day week with increase in pay for another year. The progressives point out that the workers in other unions must help defeat these splitting tactics by fighting for the five day week Continued on Poge Two the outcome of a “love affair” in- five day | Thus, if a U. S. puppet govern- | ment like that of Bolivia should con- flict with some state not controlled |by U. S. capital, like Paraguay, no arms could be shipped to Paraguay, |but they could be shipped to Bolivia, | under the Kellogg treaties, SHOE UNION IN MEMBER RALLY To Begin Organization | Drive Tonight | At a mass membership meeting of |the Independent Shoe Workers Union of Greater New York, which |will be held tonight in the Irving to maxe the Bay of Fonseca a Yan- kee lake without the consent of Hon- duras and Salvador. The Bay of Fonseca is one of the most important plans of U. S. im- |perialism in its general preparation for war with British imperialism and +t’ base of naval subjugation of Latin American peoples, Detroit Workers Party in District Convention Saturday and Sunday DETROIT, Jan. 16.—The Detroit district convention of the Workers (Communist) Party will be held Saturday and Sunday at Finnish Hall, 14th St. and McGraw. Delegates to the National Con- vention of the Party will be elected at this district convention. | of next week. | Many Meetings Held. | The lecal unions of cloak opera- | tors, cloak finishers, met esterday | and after spirited dise ions, nom- | inated members for all offices of | their respective locals and for the United Joint Board as well. They also chose election and objection committees. The meetings were held in six halls. Nominations still continue to- night and tomorrow. Tonight the Cutters’ Welfare League, the Tuck- ‘ers’, Pleaters’ and Hemstitchers’ Local 41, and the Sample Makers’ | Local 3, hold their local meetings in the union offices on three sepa- rate floors of 16 W. 21st St. The last nomination meeting will) | be held tomorrow night by the Ital- |ian local of the Cloak and Dress- | makers’ Union. This meeting also will be held at 16 W. 21st St. tors to pass the pact. The demon- stration was very successful and news of it was broadcasted over the country. At the evening meeting of the women’s conference to investigate the cause and cure of war the work- ing women’s representatives were thrown out when they tried a counter-demonstration, A strong- armed squad met them at the door and ejected especially the representa- tives of the New York Working Women’s Federations and of the| Anti-Imperialist League who dis- rupted the conference last night. secret service, and suspected of be- jing bribed by the agents of the |Cuban assassins’ government to- gether with others, was removed | |from office by Dr. Jose Manuel | Puig-Casauranc, as a direct result | jof the mass protest at Mella’s as- | sassination. bs Puig-Casauranc, head of the |federal district in which the Mexi- can capital is located, took action on ‘instruction from President Portes Gil. At the same time, it became known dropped all pretense on their previ- | ous charge that Mella’s murder ves | ASK AID FOR ‘NOVY MIR’ CE.C. Asks Help to Reestablish Paper Full cooperation in helping the Russian section of the Workers belong to the great mass of unor- ganized workers and are at the | girl, who was with Mella when he %anization will lay final plans for i < + jan |Plaza Hall, 15th St. and Irvin n| tt Ital ? i & el ih lene vee Sie Place, those belonging to that or- anization drive to be launched was shot down on the street by | the org Whig, plesting begin ak 8 agents of the Machado government Palas of Cuba, 0 clock. This yarn of a supposed “rival | After several conferences the offi- lover,” in which nobody believed, but | °°" of the union announced that which was used as an excuse by thev have secured the cooperation 2 bs \of Fred Biedenkanp, national secre- » discard. | Relief, who has promised to come p and address the membership meet- Spies and Assassins In New York. Me waen anid "The Society of Cuban Revolution- ing tonight. A He, according to the statement is- ary Refugees, of which Mella WaS | sued by the union, will also advise the organizer and head in Mexico, | with the members of the union on a announces that, Cuban workers |plan of action to be adopted in be- abroad are in hourly danger of as-| pinning the drive to unionize the sassination as Mella was assassin- ated. industry. The'W. I, R. has been ac- In New York City, refugees from tive in nearly all of America’s re- ‘om ‘cent and most outstanding organiza- the Cuban fascist terror are being followed day and night by Cuban tion struggles. Their activity con- sisted in providing the workers with Police agents of the same type that the sinews of battle—relief funds. murdered Mella here. * « In Paris, also. After this membership meeting * OPEN DOOR KILLS TRAINMAN. —————_ : LONDON, (By Mail).—Alfred|] LONDON, (By Mail).—The Air Branch, driving a locomotive on the | Ministry announces that Air Mar- London Northeastern R. R., was) shall Sir John Maitland Salmond killed when struck by an open door|has been appointed Air Chief Mary| of another train passing on an ad-|shall, succeeding Sir Hugh Trench- jacent track. ard. INCITE AGAINST NEGRO The economic basis of race riots and lynching is evident in a letter one of the subscribers of the Daily Worker received recentiy from a Negroes have refused to keep out of any neighborhood which “superi- or” whites have tried to set aside for themselves, and correctly and real estate company on Washington | effectively so. They have dared to Heights, urging him to move from | move into a section of the city cen- Harlem to the West Side because | trally located and have stayed there, Negroes were moving iftto Harlem |despite attempts of renthog land- houses to a growing extent. | lords, first, to keep them out, and ie “tatters. witch ine: typical ‘then when that failed, to change | 5 hit of “high-powered salesmanship,” them far more than previous ten- Rent Hogs Circulate Slanderous Letter| (Communist) Party to re-issue the; mercy of the employers. The secretary of the section of the union, which has been calling “Novy Mir,” the weekly organ of the Party in the Russian language, is. urged in a statement made by the Central Executive Committee of the Party and signed by Jay. Love- stone, executive secretary. The statement follows: “The Russian speaking workers in America represent one of the most oppressed sections of the in- dustrial proletarians in the United States. They are being mercilessly exploited in the mines, mills and factories, For the most part they “They have no press organ to carry the message of the class struggle to them. The newspapers printed in the Russian language in this country, are petty-bourgeois sheets, mostly preaching reaction and spreading hatred toward the Soviet Union. The white-guardists and the church are putting out their tentacles to ensnare the Russian exploited masses in the United States, \ Continued % Page Two this organization in Colombia, Jorge |section and borough meetings till Vivo, who was imprisoned there at now, plans to call a big central mass the time of the strike of banana workers against the United Fruit Company, has disappeared. Secre- taries of the society in Madrid and San Jose, Costa Rica, also report Machado’s agents busy there, and in all centers agents provocateur, such as the Cuban immigrant here, Jose Magrinat, who tried to involve Tina Modotti in his statements to the po- “The hardships facing the Soviet | lice, are insinuated in immigrant or- ganizations, meeting. The time and place will be announced soon. The strike being conducted bv the | union against the firm of V. Hcro-| witz, which made an attempt to es- tablish the open shop by breaking jthe union agreement and ordering a) ten per cent wage cut, is still being prosecuted vigorously, it was! learned. Picketing was in full force comes from the West Side Renting Co., of 2525 Broadway, and is signed by Henry Pearce, one of its owners. It reads in part as follows: “In view of the well known fact that the dark invasion is vapidly encroaching upon your section, it is time to move. We can give you our personal atten- tion in order to satisfy your wishes.” It is from such capitalist greed this morning, and the entire plar:t is tied up. e for profit that the deliberate ihcite- ment against the Negro arises. RALLY TONIGHT N. Y. Silk Workers to Hold Meeting Textile workers of Brooklyn will gather at a meeting to be held to- night by the National Textile Work ers Union in Brownsville Labor Ly ceum, Sackman St., B’klyn. This the first of a series to be held during the course of the cr- ganization drive launched by the workers organization. Albert Weis- bord will be chief speaker. Contrary to the general belief that New York and vicinity is not much of a textile center, yet, even a superficial survey shows. more than 30,000 mill workers in this city. Along with the drives in the New England mill centers, the N. T. W. proposes to conduct a drive here as well. Another open air meeting in front of the Mill gates of the Kayser Hosiery Company, will be held to- In the busy season,. about 4,500 are employed in the factory alone. The next few weeks will: see=the spreading out of the union’s drive till it encompasses not only Greater New York but also the suburbs up- state and in New Jersey. The schedules of other meetings Continued on Page Two Y. W. L. Member Meet at Center Tomorrow morrow. The membership meeting of Dis- trict 2 of the Young Workers (Com- munist) League to discuss the letter of the Executive Committee of the Communist Youth International will be held tomorrow at 6:30 p. m, at the Workers Center, 26 Union Sq. A representative of the National Executive Committee of the Young Workers (Ccmmunist) League and one for the N.E.C. minority will ants paid, and force them to resort speak. to terrible overcrowding and to pay Through an unfortunate error this ing an enormous portion of their | meeting was yesterday announced wages for rent. in the Daily Worker to be held at By organizing militant tenant lea- §:30 instead of $:30 p. m. which is | gues, together with white workers, | the correct time. the Negroes will struggle against | these atempts at segregation. Negro, POLL WEEVILS IN SOUTH. |and white workers are asked to send| WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UP).— to the Daily Worker news of the The number of boll weevils enter- jabove kind, exposing such examples | ing hibernation in the southern cot- (of capitalist exploitation and of race ton states was shown in an agri- | then when that failed ,to charge cultural department report today to \ing, with the factory, or with other be higher with three exceptions thai aspects of the workers’ lives, ‘yshet year b. ‘*