The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 21, 1929, Page 1

THE DAILY WORKER FIGHTS For a Workers-Farmers Government To Organize the Unorganized i For the 40-Hour Week . For a Labor Party Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥.. under the net of March 3, 1879. FINAL CITY EDITION Published daily except Sunday by The Vol. V., No. 328 National Daily Worker SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In New York, by mail, $8.00 per ye Publishing Association, Inc., 26-28 Union Sq., New York, N. ¥. NEW YORK, MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 1929 Outside New York, by mall, $6.00 per year, Price 3 Cents REVEAL PROOF 0 15,000 at Lenin Meet Fight War Danger Chicago Youth Defy Police, Hold Memorial DENOUNCE U. S. IMPERIALISMS' KELLOGG TREATY score Murder of Mella and Persecution of Negroes ‘Defend Soviet Union!’ Foster, Gitlow Urge Intensified Struggle Amid the cheers of 15,000 mili- | ant workers, speakers at the Lenin | nemorial meeting in Madison Square Garden, Saturday night, served no- | tice on the imperialist powers that n the event of a new imperialist var and an attack on the Soviet Union, the workers of the United States and of other countries will join hands with the Red Army of the U. S. S. R. in the struggle for, the overthrow of capitalism and the ostablishment of a workers’ and pea- | sants’ republic in America and | shroughout the world. The speakers were William Z. | Foster and Ben Gitlow, members of | the Secretariat of the Workers (Communist) Party; Otto Huiswood, director of Negro work, and Julia Stuart Poyntz, director women’s work of the Party, and Andre Rod- P t Z vigo, Cuban Communist, leader. Wil- | Machado government in Cuba, a liam W, Weinstone, district crgan- | Workers’ Leader Killed by Imperialists Julio Mella, murdered in Mewico City, Jan. 10 by agents of the | to American capitalists. Mella was hated by them for organizing the i Commupist Party of Cuba, and leading the fight, against, Imperialism, HIT MURDER OF | MELLA AT RALLY ATU. S, BUILDING 500 Demand Release of Porter; Score War Danger | Police Attack the Meet | Fifteen Young Workers Are Arrested (Special to the Daily Worker) CHICAGO, Jan. 20.—Taking pos- session of the steps of the federal | building and repelling all efforts of | \federal officers to oust them, 500 | young workers demonstrated yes- | \terday in honor of Lenin Day, de- | manding the “immediate and uncon- ditional release of John Porter,” “no | imperialist wars” and “defeuse of the Soviet Union.” | The denionstration, earried out in | the loop district, in the heart of Chicago's crowded business section, | also vigorously denounced Wall | |Street’s murder of Julio Mella, Cu- | |ban Communist. The Young Work- jers (Communist) League arranged | | che demonstration, which was pre- ‘ceded by a parade. Despite a brutal attack by the | Chicago police, and federal marshals | jfrom inside the building, the crowd | }of young workers held its awn for government completely subservient \tenango and Salama while the in- surgents were stubbornly disputing GUATEMALA CITY, Jan. 20.—| |an hour, more and more workers at- |tending. Banners carrying the above slogans were carried up and down TO BUILD DRESS | Adams St. in front of the building. STRIKE MACHINE | Against Imperialism. | Speeckes were made by Fred \Herzberg of the Young Workers 3 a f (Communist) League, and by others, | Active Unionists Meet until speaking was made impossible | by the repeated charges of mounted Tomorrow at 8 patie. 1 3 . , the connection Nominations and strike district | sinanciers, who own the Cuban gov- j meetings last week made of it one |e:nment, and its sending of two as- of the most intense for the Needle |cassins to kill the Cuban Commu- Trades Workers’ Industrial Union. |nist leader, Julio Antonio Mella, in The meeting of its active members, | yfexico City a few days ago. They | the general elections and the confer-|yointed to the U. S. army as the! ence of shop representatives, make of this week one of construc- | tion of the strike machinery for the big struggle just ahead. Of tremendous importance, The speakers pointed out | between the U. S.! of persecutor of John Porter, youth- | ful strike leader in New Bedford, who was arrested and rushed to military ac-| prison for taking part in the textile will agent of the mill owners, in its role ‘Translation of Provocative “Excelsior izer of the. Workers. Party, struck, the keynote of the protest rally when | ne declared that the murder of Julio REVOLT SPREADS Mella by spies of Machado was the | ill” trip to Latin-American. | Three Resolutions Adopted. Three resolutions were unani- | mously adopted, dealing with the | —— tion. The first denounced the ex- | -tensive preparations of the Wall Intervene Street government for a new war. , pre lnies It exposed the Kellogg peace pact | “smoke-sereen before the | Insurgents in three western. prov- scoala ie ee cabin be of Guatemala were reported to create illusions regai Bat . pies es i desires of American capitalism.” A|be fighting for their lives teday slaying of Mella, the White Terror | government troops are reported to in the Caribbean and Latin-Ameri-|have captured the towns of Maza- can countvies and pledged the co- operation of the revolutionary of the dethronement of the puppet governments of Wall Street. The third dealt with the atroeious treatment of the Negro masses in end to the “lynch rope, the stake, Jim-Crowism, peonage, segregation and discrimination” and it embodied the pledge of the Workers (Commu- ity, for self-determination of the op- pressed Negro race and for the over- throw of capitalism. Cheer Speakers. the vast audience at the Garden gathered to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Lenin, was clear and unmistakable through- Zam, national secretary of the Young Workers League, asserted that though Lenin was gone, Lenin- ism lives on and grows in its might, Again the workers cheered and cheered when Otto Huiswood re- counted the aims of. the Workers Party to fight for the exploited Ne- the Iynch rope and bayonets. There was thunderous applause when Juliet Stuart Poyntz called on the masses to help build the Daily Worker, the Workers (Communist) Party press. And Andre Rodrigo, who, in Span- ish, reveiwed the persecution of Mella and the ultimate slaying, was surance of solidarity. Rodrigo left yesterday for Mexico City, to at- tend ‘the National Assembly of Workers and Peasants, which will tion in Mexico, But the 15,000 men and women went wild in approbation when Ben Gitlow. at the Red Army army of the working class. In the event of an attack by the imperial- ist powers against the Soviet Union, we will fight for the Soviet Union Our 3] Class against class. Defend. Soviet Union. Down with ism ‘in the United ‘ on Page Two) first result of Hoover's “good-wil political, social and economic situa- iU. S. Warships May as a | second resolution assailed the brutal |28ainst superior federal forces, The masses of this country to the end the United States. It called for an nist) Patty to fight for racial equal- The revolutionary sentiment of out the evening. When Herbert the asesmblage roared its approval. gro masses and against the use of Fretheit' and other sections of the given a hearty reception and an as- form a new trade union organiza- of the Soviet Union is our army, the and for the defeat of imperialism. every inch of ground around Quet- zaltenango. The government used planes to jbomb the cities. The insurgents |have no planes. It is believed that troops of in- surgents withdrew from Mazaten- ango in the direction of the moun- tains where they can keep up an indefinitely long struggle against the federal forces, * 8 U.S. Warships. MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Jan. 20. American authorities here denied that war vessels had already been dispatched to Guatemala, but ad- mitted that there were United States battleships off the Guatemalan coast. Real Admiral David F. Sel- Jers, commander of the American special squadron in Central Ameri- can waters, is known to be at hand and is armed with extraordinary powers, both from the state and navy departments, for intervention in any Latin-American nation under pretext of protecting American lives and property. The seizure of the railroad by the insurgents will undoubtedly give the United States just the pretext it needs to intervene in Guatemala. The United Fruit Company has a (Continued on Page Five) Thousands in Rally at Riga; Police Jail Workers;UseWhips RIGA, Jan. 20.—Twenty-five Communists and other workers including a member of Parlia- ‘ment, were arrested by police here today during the government’s attack on a meeting of nearly 8,000 persons protesting against unemployment conditions. Police wielded “nagaikas,” Cossack whips, to disperse the crowd. 1 KILLED iN BLAST. TERRE HAUTE, Ind., (By Mail). —One man was killed and six in- jured, some fatally, in an explosion caused by escaping gas in a six-story building. The building had been con- demned by the state fire-martial, cording to the appeal of the union, is the meeting tomorrow night at 8 o’clock in Webster Hall of all ac- tive members from all sections of the union. Cloakmakers, dressmakers and furriers are called upon to lay aside all other arrangements and come to the meeting of active members ,tomorrow night. The meeting will |oceupy itself largely with the es- tablishment of the strike machinery. | In issuing its call to this meet- ing the union asks all active work- selves to the strike organization and the two dress shops that are now out-on strike, the S..& W. Dress Co., 307 W. 38th St. and the Fore- most Dress Co., 370 W. 35th St. Elections for all officers to the | United Joint Board and all officers and other functionaries of the var- ‘ous locals are to be held this Thurs- day. Polling hours are to be from 8 a. m. to 8 p, m. The election places will probably be in 16 W. 21st St. and in 22 E. 22nd St. Ad- ditional polling booths are expected to be arranged for in other places. Announcement of these locations will be made later. From two Joint Boards, one in the fur trades and one in the la- dies’ garment manufacturing indus- try, the new union intends to make one, to function for the whole in- dustry. Both Joint Boards are meeting weekly in joint session, On the day of elections, Thurs- day, all shops representatives will meet in a shop delegates conference to take up various questions. Prom- inently on the day’s order will be placed the question of the delegate council’s position and tasks in the machinery which is to call and con- duct the dressmakers’ general strike. The other chief problem facing the conference, which will be held immediately after. work in Manhat- tan Lyceum, 66 FE. 4th St., will be the problem of choosing from among themselves their Joint Board delegation. The Council is to fur- in the new united Joint to demonstrate this by coming to. the picket lines in the morning to! | (Continued on Page Five) 400 TAILORS IN BOSTON WALKOUT Strike Against Hillman | Speed Up System BOSTON, Jan. 20.—Four hundred tailors, members of the Amalgama- ted Clothing Workers’ Union, work- ers in Boston’s largest men’s cloth- ing factory, are out on strike against their bosses and against the! union officialdom. | Told to Turn Out More Work. Events leading to the revolt against the Tremont Clothing Co.,/ and their agents in the union are: with the introduction of a line of; finer work, which takes longer to produce, needing greater care, the pressers were instructed to turn out more than they had made under the standard set for cheaper work. With the old standard already unbearably |high, the new demand met with the refusal of the pressers. The bosses then ordered them to halt work. Knowing that they were being backed by the union officialdom, the employers also demanded that 1,500 garments be produced on the work-_ jers’ own time. Not one cent would be received by the harrassed work- ers for this work. Hillman Comes to Bosses’ Aid. The workers held a shop meeting. | The matter was argued. A decision| was there made to demand that the} ing them to New York. The local of- ficials then announced that the halt- ing of work against the firm was a |worker prisoners in Bellem Prison adjoining, defying police and fire- {Luciano Peralta. SERAN CASTIGADOS LOS AGITADORES QUE MANDA JULIO ANTONIO MELLA El Gobierno de Cuba ha Reci- hido Indicaciones gn tal Sentido de Nuestro Pais HABANA, Cuba, gmére.7. €Asso- viated)—Unos mensajes enViados } al Secretario'de Estado,, dan cuenta} de que cl Gobierno mexicano que preside cl licenciado EmiHo Portes Gil, piensa castigar a los comunis- tas cubanos que han estado ‘tratan- do de proyocdr una. agitacién. en México contra el CGiobierng cubano, desde Jas columnas del periddivo | “Cuba Libre’. \ ' Dfcese que -las autorfdades: me~' xicanas han iniciado una amplia investigacién sobre ek irtcidentte ocurriéd a tltimas fechas’ en wnas: asambleas de. propagarida, en las que los agitadores' cubanés desga- rraron, y profanaroén-el pahell6nede la estrella solitaria. . El Ministerio de Relaciones. Ex~ teriores'de México, ha“expresado su pesar por el asunto. ; Dicese que el jefe de los, agita- dorés cubanos en México es Julio ‘Antonio Mella, quien’ figur6é como director de los estudiantes. univer- /fitarios de Ja Habana, habiendo ‘sido sefialado coimo responsable. de | varios motines ocurridos em Cuba. |. Fué.aprehendido a.rafz de] aten- , tado dinamitero cometido coritra! la vida del ex Presidente Alfredo. Za- yas, Poco después huy6 del pafs. oOo AGITATORS HEADED BY JULION ANTONIO MELLA WILL BE PUNISHED. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT HAS RECEIVED NOTICE TO THAT EFFECT FROM OUR COUNTRY. HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 7 (AP).—Messages sent to the secretary of state, give account that the Mexican government, headed by the lawyer Emilio Portes Gil, intends to punish the Cuban Communists who have been trying to provoke an agitation in Mexico against the Cuban government from the columns of the periodical “Free Cuba.” “It is said that the Mexican authorities have begun a wide inves- tigation of the incident that occurred recently in some propaganda meetings, in which Cuban agitators tore and profaned the Cuban flag. “The Minister of Foreign Relations of Mexico has expressed his regrets upon the subject. “It is said that the chief of the Cuban agitators in Mexico is Julio Antonio Mella, who figured as director of university students of lavana, having been pointed out as responsible for various mutinies in Cuba. “He was arrested in connection with a dynamite attack against the life of ex-President Alfredo Zayas. A little later he fled from the country.” —From “El Excelsior,” the daily organ of Catholic and fascist reaction in Mexico City, January 8, two days before Mella’s assassination, |Worker Prisoners Rise |Duncan Troupe to Be |in Revolt in Mexico as Here Another Week Court Hears Mella Case) in Varied Program Insistent demand has caused the ‘formal investigation into the death |Jsadora Duncan Dancers to again MEXICO CITY, Jan. 20.—While a} |of Julio Mella, Communist leader postpone plans for a national tour. murdered by United States imperi- The dancers will continue thruout jalism thru the Wall Street govern the entire week'at* Wallack’ ment of Cuba, vance of at least several Mexican © é government officials, was going on ing program of unusual interest. |in court here, witnesses and worker | spectators could hear the roar of ready seen these remarkable work- jing class children from the Soviet |men with hoses. They were protest- | Union and any more are expected from the S. S. President Garfield, ing the jcal rules for the prison, decreed by New York City. Under the direction the new governor, Brigadier General of frma Duncan, head of the famous | |Isadora ‘Duncan School in Moscow, \this remarkable troupe is creating jan art filled with the spirit of the union call a strike against the firm) SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 20.—An first workers’ and peasants’ republic. and its subsidiaries, which them- attempt by the retail gasoline trust | *Wallack’s Theatre is a small in- selves employ 300 more tailors. The here, the San Francisco Garage and timate theatre where everyone can Joint Council officials at their meet- Property Owners’ Association to ruin |see the dancers at good advantage. ing after this received a telegram rivals who have been selling under | The program include numbers by. from President Hillman’s office, call- the trust's prices, is on, The trust | Gluck, Schubert, Chopin, Brah: will engage in a price cutting | paign, and drive what it calls the “pirates” out of business. A “stoppage” and not a strike, mean-/fleet of trucks. nish one-third of the total delegates |ing that they refused to tie up the|by the and with the conni- GAS TRUST FIGHTS RIVAL. Beethoven 's Theatre, | 42nd St., west of Broadway, present- Thousands of workers have al- F PLAN TO ASSASSINATE JULIO MELLA DOCUMENTS IN NEWSPAPER OF REACTION IN MEXICO | | press, two days before the ass MELA BRANDED ARTICLE FALS |‘Excelsior’ Story Shield | for Political Crimes MEXICO CITY, Jan. 20,—A let- ter sharply characterizing the ar- | ticle in the “Excelsior,” that he had torn up a Cuban flag, as provocative jand false, was written by Julio j}and immediately after he saw the | article. It points out that the mo- j tives for the publication of the ar- | tidle are to aid the Cuban govern- ment in its campaign against the |Cuban revolutionary exiles in Mex- jieo, to suppress their paper and | wreck vengeance upon them. Mella the organizer of the Commu- j nist Party in Cuba and was a mem- ber of the executive of the Mexican Communist Party after his. exile \from Cuba. He was a Teader of the | other Cuban worker exiles. His let- jter is as follows: “Mexico City, Jan. 8, 1929. |“Editor of ‘Excelsior’: | “Dear Sir: I again take the | trouble to call your attention to the | ‘Cuban flag incident,’ because the dis- |patches published in this morning’s papers, coming from Havana, where it is announced that the |of foreign affairs of Mexico has | pressed his regrets for the sup’ |ineident and that the M | thorities will punish the Cuban im- | migrants. 8 rd Article False “T again declare, in the name of 9 Article | the Association of New Revolution ary Cuban Emigrees, that there was ne affront whatever to the Cuban tlag at the celebration ‘A Cuban | Night,’ as those who were present in the hall can tes “I do not know what is the inves- tigation that has been made, as no Cuban immigrant has asked for such before competent judicial or political authority, We suppose that the foreign secretary has not sent any regrets to the Cuban govern- |ment, and, if he has done so, cer- tainly he has expressed regret for something that has not taken place. “T repeat my previous declarations, | where I attribute this ignoble cam- paign to the political vengeance of the members of the present Cuban | government, who prevent us immi- grants from publishing anything in the Havana press, now that the only existing press is that of the gov- crnment and this suppresses our let- ters. “The author of this campaign is Mr. Amarall, who was employed by | the legal department of the Cuban government, who came to this coun. try and has returned to Cuba in a most mysterious manner, with no one knowing the causes of his sus- (Continued on Page Five) Passengers, Baggage Taken From Grounded Liner Pres. Garfield ABOARD 8S. S. PAN-AMERIC. Jan. 20 (By Radio to the U. P.)— Passengers, baggage and mail are being transferred aboard this ship imposition of fresh tyranni- to see them this week—their last in | which is hard and fast aground on | | Matanilla Shoal. Kills Negro Worker, Gets 3 Years, Paroled MIAMI, (By Mail).—Robert Ma- lone, convicted of second degree in a construction gang, was tenced to three y, prison ites | Mella just before his assassination | murder for killing a Negro worker government of Cuba, as he SHOW MURDER CONSPIRACY | Imperialist Agents Defend Crime in Advance; | Police Chief Gave Killers Sanctuary “Witnesses” Confess Secret Service Compelled Them to Give False, Romantic Version (Special to the Daily Worker) MEXICO CITY, Jan. 20.—Documents made public here show that a deliberate attempt was made thru the reactionary ination of Julio Mella, Cuban | Communist, to prepare the public and justify in advance the ®plan to murder him. | Also, with the dismissal by special order of President Gil, sent by wire, of the Chief of the Mexican Secret Police, Vicente Quintana, under the fire of the nation-wide protest of workers and peasants for sheltering the as- sassins of Julio Mella, it is revealed that Quintana, openly accused of ‘being bribed by the Cuban govern- ment, had tried to turn suspicion upon the false track of another mo- tive and thus shelter the real as- sassins who were agents of the President of Cuba. Mella Accused Imperialists. Although everyone knew that Mella’s murder was a political as- sassination, and although Mella had himself stated in his dying moments that he was certain that he had been shot down by agents of the {Cuban government, Quintana had framed up another story to deceive |the public into believing that Mella |was killed by a rival for the love of Tina Modotti, Mella’s friend and | comrade. Quintana had produced, not only known agents provocateur, one |Jose Magrinat, with whom Mella jhad spoken only a few minutes be- fore he was shot down, and who had made an appointment with Mella at a certain hour and place |undoubtedly to set the assassins |upon Mella’s track, but three other | supposed “witnesses” who had testi- fied that some other man was seen by them with Mella and Tina Mod- ‘otti, and that they were “quarrel- ling over the girl.” Masses Refute Story. The masses of® workers and pea- sants, through their gigantic demon- strations of anger at Mella’s murder and storm of demands upon the government of Portes Gil, forced Gil to remove Quintana, and smashed the lying story he circulated. As quickly as Quintana was dis- charged, the three “witnesses” con- fessed that he had compelled them under fear of punishment, to testify falsely and that there was no “rival” and no “love affair.” In addition to this proof of the murder of the Communist leader bes ing directly chargeable to the Presi- dent of Cuba, and his agents, are the official reports of the police commissioner who questioned both Mella and Tina Modotti. Machado Agents. The Mexican newspaper “El Uni- versal” of Jan. 12 published the following revort of the police com- missioner who directly investigated the murder of Mella, questioning him as he lay on his death-bed in the Red Cross hospital. This police report also proves that Mella knew his assassins were agents of Macha- do. It says: “I received notice that in the second street of Abraham Gonzalez \there was woundel Senor Julio An- tonio Mella. Later, questioned in the Red Cross hospital, the wounded man was able to speak and declared \that he was certain that his assail- |ants were sent by the governmént |of Cuba. The wounds are classi: jand described in the medical certifi- cate that accompanies this report. | h the foregoing noted, an ex- nation was held. “Present: Julio Antonio Mella, ‘and questioned according to the general legal form, said that he was |named as herein written, being joriginally from Havana, Republic of Cuba, of 25 years of age, married, |student and journalist, living at 31 |Abraham Gonzalez St. declared: “That at 9:15 today, accompanied by Tina Modotti, he was walking through Morelos Avenue, and at jturning into the second street of | Abraham Gonzalez, heard two shots, | fired at his person, causing him the | wounds that he showed. That he is jcertain that his assailants were two. individuals sent expressly ba ami. | i