The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 12, 1929, Page 6

3SCRIPTION Mail (in N RATES: York on 4.50 six months months New York): six months nonths Daily, Union § year $2.00 thre ROBERT MINOR WM. F, DUN? ecks to $ Union ae 3 “El Cristo Rey” Has Offices in Wall Street “Viva Cristo Rey!’ shouted Jose de Leon Toral, assas- sin of Obregon, as the rifles of the firing squad ended his life. At least the press reporters assumed that the half- spoken sentence they heard was intended to be this, which means “Long live Christ the King.” This execution of a very insignificant, ignorant and sub- y probably serve as a marker between two chapters of Mexican history. Of course the confused, stupid young counter-revolutionist, Toral, was only a half-conscious instrument of forces of great import. the president-elect of Mexico was the outcome of a deep- going class struggle of world significance. The struggle for the subjugation of Mexico as a colony of the United States capitalist class founds more or less “ cidental” tool in the young religious fanatic. “Chri king,” for whom Toral shouted as the inspirer of his crime, otherwise a-figment of imagination, can be said to have a Yeal existence 1 hard-boiled Yankee international banker With offices in Wall Street, New York. And we must men- tion that he has a sub-office at Washington, D. C., called the White House. yr the “king” behind the murder of Obre- gon is no celestial being, but American imperialism itself. And when we say that the execution of the murderer ay mark the end of the chapter, we do not mean the end »ow the chapter of murder in Mexico by agencies of Yankee imperialism. United States imperialism has inspired violence against the masses of Mexico and against the Mexican government for decades. The murder of Obregon was a direct result of the mobilization of forces of reaction, superstition, feudalism, \ete., in the service of United States imperialism to break whatever resistance the weak and wavering Mexican govern- ment might put up to the Yankee oil men and mining mag- nates. But now it appears that, with Morrow leading the opera- tion, the present Mexican government has become itself so subservient to Wall Street that the reactionary forces of feudalism and superstition are rather invited by Wall Street to support the Mexican government. ~ Inthe new chapter such murders as that of our Com- rade Julio Antonio Mella will be more typical of the activi of Wall Street’s gunmen. Development of “Factory Farms.” bi Henry Ford is planning a demonstration farm of many thousand of acres, where he aims to “solve” the ‘farm prob- lem. A large farm of his own at Dearborn, Michigan, has already given him the basis for his own conclusions. He esti- mates that a year’s farm work can be done in 20 working days, and in most cases even in 15 days, the latter distributed as follows: two days for ploughing and harrowing, one for planting, five for cultivation during growth, two for harvest- _ ing and threshing, and five for ditching, fencing, distributing - fertilizer, etc. Thoroughly planned organization, intensive specialization, plus labor-saving machinery, will be the means PF etieving these results, according to Ford. Siace more machinery and labor would be required than most individual farmers could afford to employ, Ford’s plan contemplates agricultural contractors with the necessary men and ma- chinery who would go from farm to farm deiag the work. In his automobile and tractor business Ford has effected re- duction of costs and therefore of prices by mass production and intensive rationalization and he thinks the same can be done with farming.—From an article by A. Richman, “The Economics of American Agriculture,” in the Jan.-Feb. issue of The Communist. Remember that the South has 100,500 square miles of coal area, over five times as much as Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. ‘oday Southern anti-union coal mines are producing 40 per cent of country’s coal. The South has five billion barrels of oil reserve and producing 63 per cent of the country’s output and 45 per cent of the ‘world’s petroleum supply, if It is not enough merely to say the South is being industrialized. is paper talk. As Leninists, we must draw certain class struggle usions. What does it mean for class relations—for the working ] for the bourgeoisie, for the international position of the American urgeoisie? The rapid industrialization of the South within the last " decades: has built un a real reserve power of American imperialism. Does anybody say: “Look at the glorious South and its benefits insefar s the workers are concerned?” That is sheer perversion and idiocy. It is becoming a glorious place for the big bourgeoisie and precisely for this reason, there is growing up in the South a new and dreadful capi- - talist tyranny. The South is the bulwark of the open shop. The South _ is the center of the most reactionary rule against the workers. In the na South we have capitalist oppression of a kind which would make some towns in the steel industry appear like islands of freedom for the work- ing class. This condition generates the forces of resistance, the forces militant antagonism to the new bourgeoisie on the part of the newly isin proletariat—overwhelmingly native—Negro and white. * we “(The Above is an excerpt from an article in the Jan.-Feb, issue of “The Communist” by Jay Lovestone—“Some Issues In the Party Discussion.” ) b Nitgedaiget Workers Pledge Aid to the “Daily following resolution was unanimously passed at a special meet- Il campers at Camp Nitgedaiget: We, the campers of Camp Nitgedaiget, after hearing a report on cial situation of the Daily Worker and the Freiheit, the two organs of the American proletariat, and realizing the absolute sity of their existence, particularly at. the present time, when we ing the war danger and the attacks of the master class against unions and against the only political party of the working class, cers (Communist) Party, have therefore unanimously decided to ncially both the Daily Worker and the Freiheit, by taxing our- voluntarily, also to have special affairs to raise additional funds der to enable the Freiheit and the Daily Worker to bring the mes- of Communism to the working class of this country and lead them leir daily struggle and to their final emancipation from the yoke talism. * se 9 His act in murdering | IN WITH IT! Pledge China, Filip By CRISANTO EVANGELISTA, (A speech delivered on the Commemoration of the Chinese Revolution of 1911, held under the auspices of the Chinese Labore: Association of the Philippines, at Asia Theatre, Manila, on October 10, 1928.) Comrades: On this.memorable o: ion the Chinese people throughout the world are justly and proudly cele- brating the 17th anniversary of the great Chinese Republic. The Fili- pino workers who fought for Philip- pine independence, and shed their blood to throw off the yoke of for- eign oppression and exploitation, join hands with you in your cele- brations. The workers and peasants of the Philippines, especially those who come under the leadership of the Congreso Obrero de Filipinas sents the Pan-Pacific jon Secretariat in this |country, warmly and sincerely greet you, and through you and your or- ganization, the Philippine Chinese \Laborers’ Association, extend their greetings to the militant workers and peasants of China who, despite the most brutal terror against them by those who called themselves “nationalists,” by those militarists and fascists in your coun- try who act as lackeys of imperial- ism, especially of American and British imperialisms, were and are still fighting, first, for their organ- ized open existence, and second, for the final emancipation of the Chi- nese people. We greet you, comrades, because on this same date in 1911, thzougl | the efforts and struggles of the Chi. nese people under the leadership of the late Dr. Sun Yat Sen, made it | possible for the overthrow of the \old, corrupt feudalistic regime and |the birth of a new, vigorous Chi- |nese nationality. We greet you, further, not be- | cause you have, through fighting, | | changed the name of your govern- | ment from empire to republic, be- ‘cause we believe a mere transfor- | mation in name can afford nothing | beneficial to the working people, its | shackle remains a shackle; but be- | cause you have shown the world |your courage and willingness to | fight and die for the independence | of China, for the overthrow of for- ‘eign imperialism and oppression, ‘and for the freedom of Chinese workers and peasants. | Your 1911 Revolution, | from the point of view of a Filipino | worker, achieved nothing but the | first step towards the independence ‘of China as a nation. It was not \participated in consciously by the 'broad-mass of the Chinese people. ‘It was simply a bourgeois revolu- | tion whose principal aim was to ‘overthrow the old monarchical re- |gime and in its stead establish a | bourgeois democracy or republican | form of government. Because of its | being a bourgeois revolution where- jin the Chinese workers and peasants |as a class did not participate con- ‘sciously, Dr. Sun Yat Sen_ nearly {met his defeat by the betrayal of old militarists and enemies of the | people, that is, by Chinese reaction- ‘aries headed by Yuan Shi Kai and | Co. As a result of yovr 1911 Revolu- tion, the revolutionary movement in China, under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, learned a great lesson. The Kuomintang adopted new pro- grams and tactics for revolutionary struggles, the third and the most famous among them was that adopted during the period of 1923 whereby it not only accepted Rus- il the Daily Worker and the Freiheit! the struggle of the workers for final contro! of the world!” sian friendship and technical aid but also its revolutionary tactics using as its basis the mass strug- gle, which showed itself later to be Si iiss ily Date: however, | DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDA FEBRUARY 12, 1929 Their Struggle Against ino Workers’ Solidarity Struggle Against Oppressors By Fred Ellis, 4 jnot help but see in it the betrayal! of the cause of your heroic revolu- 1 | tion. This same happened in our revo- | lution—the Philippine revolution of | 1896. Our revolution was, judging Imperialism a Commo: the most effective weapon for the}! overthrow of foreign domination and imperialism in China, for the abrogation of unequal treaties and extraterritorial claims and for the liquidation of exploitation, militar- ism, ete. Because of this timely change of policy and tactics, the workers and peasants of China—whom your or- ganization represents in this coun- the class that has been cruelly and brutally subjected to unbear- able exploitation by both foreign and native capitalists and landlords, was given a prominent place and definite ‘tasks to fulfill within the ranks of} | the revolutionary movement. ‘ Thanks to this change of policy! and tactics it has made possible the |most effective participation of the, broad mass in your revolution.) | Through workers’ and peasants’ pro-| ‘ paganda and agitation, together with | heroic cooperatioa of the Chinese) youth, through mass strikes and| boycotts by which you were able to| cripple and punish the exploiting} waged | capitalists and imperialists in China, | Hankow, government, against these |the Kuomintang on whose standard| | were inscribed the “San Min Chu I”| General Motors’ “Gift” to Employes for Bosses Only Out of its stupendous profits the yeneral Motors Corp., will pay back 4,000 in cash and 147,185 hares of new common stock to 12,- 0330f its 200,000 employes, who in 1923 put savings into its savings and investment fund. Profits of this giant company were $240,534,- | |613 for the first nine months of 1928. Only 6 per cent or ahout one out of every 17 of all the employes will share in this distribution of an amount which is less than 6 per cent | | of the corporation’s earnings for one year. Few Get Anything. Hailed as a benefaction by the | New York press, the scheme calls for savings from a worker’s wages to) accumulate for five years before anyreturn is made. For each dollar paid into the fund by an employe, | the corporation pays 50 cents into a separate inyestment fund. The money in the investment fund is then invested in General Motors common stock, the income from whichi s reinvested. After five years, the cash saved by an employe, plus interest and the accumulated common stock are dis- tributed to those remaining. in the class. In the present case only 6 per cent of all those who work for the company receive any return. Adyertising Scheme. Thissaving s fund, played. up prominently on the front page of the N. Y. Times and other papers, serves to advertise the company, It is only one of the corporation’s many welfare schemes, which tie the workers to this one concern. High salaried publicity men, writing up the plan as a splendid philanthropy, say nothing of the fact that it is mainly petty foremen and depart- ment superintendents who can take advantage of the fund. % Unbelievably high profits for this J, P. Morgan concern are described by Robert W. Dunn in his new book Labor and Automobiles. ‘It has veen computed that a man who bought 100 shares of original stock in 1908 for $10,000, by exercising his vari- ous rights to subscribe to additional stock as it was announced, would by ‘, year 1927 have increased his \left in your glorious labor movement. } dividend: to: that datewould have | Shevikk Revolution in Russia in 1917, \any of his rights to purchase -ddi-| ernment under their absolute con- | gold-coining company, he would now | be the holder of 5,047 shares and the | would now be almost $1,500,000, in-| ‘time as ‘the largest bonus ever dis- |from the class of its leaders and (Three Principles of the Peoples)| founders, and more especially its expounded by your great dead | supreme head, Andreas Bonifacio, leader, was able to gain power andj and the broad mass that followed) strength in the Chinese Revolution, | behind him, really a semi-proletarian But what occurred later, after the | revolution. < death of Dr. Sun? Our great leader himself was a} The Kuomintang fascist section, | proletarian, a poor storehouse clerk. its militarist leaders, killed the|Because of this fact, when that) workers by the hundreds and thou-| memorable revolution was at its | sands, They suppressed your fight-| height, when it assumed such in-| ing trade unions, they declared your | tensity in the mind of the Filipino| class organizations illegal and forced| people that a victorious’ end was you to work underground. When| sure, our bourgeoisie, our so-called} they thought that there was nothing| teformists and patriots whe were} ‘opposed to an armed revolt against when they believed that their task| foreign oppression, set up a con- of terrorism and suppression had|spiracy and assassinated our beloved accomplished its purpose, they set | proletarian leader. about creating new “fascist unions”| After this brutal assassination was | under their own control, and set|accomplished our bourgeois revolu-| them to work to destroy every| tionary leaders who succeeded Boni- vestige of your fighting spirit for|facio, eliminated all worker leaders, mass freedom, | and immediately afterwards treach- When I read news about China’s| erously sold out our revolution under | Revolution, when I hear the protest| the so-called Pact of Biakna-Bato, of the All-China Labor Federation,| and, instead of pursuing real objec- headed by our Comrade Su Chaojen, tives, which were the immediate and} one-time Minister of Labor in the| absolute independence of the Philip-| pines from foreign ddémination, they sought the establishment of a semi- autonomous government with repre- | sentation in the Spanish parliament, \but which left us as an integral part |—a colony—of Spain. | Since then the Filipino bourgeoisie |sought to isolate the working class |in this country in the fight for in- dependence. They are fearful of the! |probable outcome of direct and ac-| tive participation of the workers in the struggle for independence. Our bourgeoisie know full well the lesson | taught by the French Revolution, its Paris Commune in 1871, and finally, the experience taught by the Bol-| outrages of the militarists and fas- cists within the Kuomintang, I could nominal investment to about $100,- 000, But these holdings would then | be worth on the market about $1,-| 675,000 which the various cash divi- dends he had received, would have | amounted to over $2,000,000. His | by which the Russian bourgeoisie, Velo ae plese | together with its landlords and mili- 15,000 Per Cent. tarists were ousted from the gov- ‘Even if, this ortginal buyer of | ernment and the Russian proletariat 100 shares in 1908 had not exercised | set up a workers’ and peasants’ gov- tional stock, but had merely accepted the rich plums handed out by this trol. After the former leaders of the Federal Party, a party that was created under the auspices of pioneer American imperialists in the islands, and whose prominent members par- ticipated in the Congress at Malolos of our erstwhile Philippine Republic, failed in their aim of annexing the Philippines into the American Union, and, after our so-called Nationalist leaders at present also failed to se- cure our freedom by means of use- less academic discussion with the representatives of American imperi- alism for more than three decades, here we sée, at this very time, what their real purpose is and what they are after. They are evading the real issue of immediate and absolute in- dependence, they are not- after it now. They are after autonomy, a dominion form of government. hy this change of front? Plainly because their interests are well pro- tected under the guns of America; they are assured of the monopoly of power and governmental jobs; they can exploit the people mo) easily under protection by American army and navy; they can be of great ser- vice to the interests of both native and foreign capitalists. Above all, they are not sure of what would be the attitude of the Filipino workers and peasants when the Philippines become independent. We might rise in a class revolution, seize the power of government, and, under that circumstance their politi- cal and economic power for exploita- total value of his $10,000 investment cluding $265,210 in cash dividends. | He received this return of nearly 15,000 per cent without the con- tribution of a single hour of labor to the production of goods. This man should know how it feels to own, for a living.” General Motors profits for the first nine months of 1928 made a record never before reported by any other company during peace time. “AS a result of this phenomenal profit another large slice of melon was cut for the stockholders late in 1928. A stock splitup equivalent to a 150 per cent stock dividend was voted, in addition to another extta cash dividend of $2,50 a share (43,- 500,000). Itwas described at the tributed to stockholders of any cor- poration in this or any other country.’ ” Wage Cuts. From the facts known about wages of auto workers, it is clear that only the higher paid few of the 200,000 General Motors employes could save enough to profit from thesavings scheme, if the worker was also trying to support even a small family. Yearly wages aver- aged less than $1600, government figures en ree than $30 a week, nd if the part-time em- |? ployment is taken into consideration tion would be endangered and could they run even less. |not be secure. ¢ General Motors have cut wages| That's why they co-operate with repeatedly in recent months. They Governor Stimson. They see behind have even cut the piece-work rages it more power, more remuneration, on new models after the rates had | more exploitation. been definitely fixed, To Be Continued —— Copyright, 1929, Publishers Co., Inc. by Internationa BILL HAYWOOD'S BOOK Victor Berger—Socialist Labor Traitor; Some- thing About Labor Banking; Tin Houses and Autocracy All rights reserved. Republica- tion forbidden except by permission. In previous chapters Haywood wrote of his boyhood among the "Mormons in Utah; of his years as miner and cowboy in Nevada and Idaho; his promotion to the head of the Western Federation of Miners; the W. F. M, fights in Denver and Telluride. Now go on reading. * * * By WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD. PART XXXIV. ‘HE eight-hour fight in Colorado was looming up as one of the big- gest things the organization had ever encountered. The unions of the Cripple Creek district sent some of their best men to the convention of May, 1902. Sherman Parker, Bill Easterly, Dan Griffis, Bill Davis, Charles Kennison, D. ©. Copley and John Harper were there. St, John came from Telluride and Frank Smeltzer from Silverton. E. J. Smith represented the Denver smelter men. The convention was unani- mous for pressing the eight-hour fight to a success- ful end. It endorsed what was being done by the mill and smelter men. All over the state, in Tellur- ide, Durango, Florence, Canon City, Pueblo, Idaho Springs and Denver, the agitation for the eight-hour day was going on. This was soon to break in the Colorado industrial wars. : The convention again unequivocally endorsed the principles of socialism. The policy and principles of the Western Federation of Miners were of much concern to the mine owners of the West, but some puerile-minded socialists, such as Victor Berger, referred to the struggles that developed as “border feuds,” in- timating that they were not of much interest to the socialist party. In my first articles in the Miners’ Magazine I had proposed that the Western Federation should get control of mines by lease, bond, location or purchase. The idea seemed at the time a solution of some of the difficulties that we were constantly meeting. I introduced at this convention measures to this end, and was helped by Tom Hurley, whorhad been at one time a coal miner in Pennsylvania. I often won- dered if he was the same Tom Hurley that McLain had told me about in his story of the Molly Maguires. He laid before the convention dele- gates definite plans of the coal beds of Routt county, which were then open to entry or location. Hurley reasoned that the W.F.M. could form a subsidiary company to get control of the land underlaid by coal, for the general organization. There was no question about our ability to “open, develop and operate the mines. That was the work we knew how to do, and we could do it better, more scientifically, with much greater vegard for the health, lives and happiness of ou: elves if we had the management. But large bodies move slowly. David Moffatt, president of the First National Bank of Denver, who had been a member of the board of arbitration in the first Cripple Creek strike in 1894, ac- quired the land in Routt county, taking it right off our plate, so to say. Other opportunities offered, but were simply neglected. The effect of the acquisition of banks and mines upon a labor or- ganization is now clearly shown, for example, in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The scab mines of the Brotherhood in West Virginia are notorious examples. They are capitalistic ventures and are operated as scab concerns. Labor banks are not a cooperative effort of the workers, but a means of developing class collaboration. They strangle the principles of unionism and convert the members into part- time capitalists. T realized the need of getting the women to help us in the Federa- tion, and the convention adopted a resolution to form women’s auxil- jaries wherever it was possible, and urging us to strengthen the exist- ing District Unions and organize others where it could be done. The delegates were invited every year to visit the Underhill fac- tory, where some two hundred girls were employed in making overalls and jumpers. The miners enjoyed the event, and so did the girls. Casual acquaintances wexe made, and often developed into real ro- mances which resulted in the girls changing their vocation to that of a miner’s wife in some outlying mining camp. After one of these visits, a resolution was offered by one of the delegates to introduce a uniform for a special rank in the organization, His idea was to deck us out like the Knights of Pythias or the Shriners. Susie Scheidler, one of the garment workers, had given me a miniature pair of overalls and a jmper to match, that she had made. I pulled them out of my pocket and held them up before the delegates. I supported the reso- lution, offering the overalls and jumper as a sample of the uniform we should adopt. Every one began to laugh. There was never any more nonsense about uniforms. The mill and smelter men of Colorado City organized into a union of the Western Federation of Miners, early in 1902. The members of this little body were active, and the membership increased every meeting night. I went there on two occasions with President Moyer, and several times alone to help the new members in their work. We had D. C. Copley, Bill Davis and other members from the Cripple Creek district to help them at different times. Colorado City was the site of some of the plants that reduced the ores from the Cripple Creek district. After the gold-bearing ore had gone through the reduction works there was little left but tailings and dross. None of the refined gold was left in Colorado City, nothing but waste and slum. This forlorn little industrial town of tents, tin houses. huts and hovels was bordered by some of the grandest scenery of nature. It was in the very shadow of Pike’s Peak, only a short dis- tance from the glorious Garden of the Gods, The wonderful medicinal waters of Manitou Springs were nearby, almost a suburb of the aris- tocratic residential city of Colorado Springs, with its beautiful homes where the owners and managers and other highly paid officials lived. The officials of the reduction plant were arrogant and defiant. They adopted the old system that had been in vogue since the days of the Molly Maguires—that of employing Pinkerton detectives, spot- ters and stool-pigeons. From early in August until February, 1903, forty-one men had been discharged and had been told that it was be- cause they had joined the union. The Colorado City Mill and Smeltermen’s Union Number 125 be- fore declaring a strike sent a letter to the mill managers, calling at- tention to the discharge of many men because they had been members of the union, asking for their reinstatement and submitting a scale of wages. The union received no reply to this communication, but the companies continued their blacklisting until the fourteenth of Febru- ary, when a strike was declared that closed down all the mills. The people of the town had discovered the Pinkerton detective who was leading the spies in their work at Colorado City. One day almost the entire population turned out and went to his rooming house, where they told him to pack up and get out of town, as they did not want him in their midst any longer. They escorted him to the edge of the town and he never returned. i The mill managers were supported by the Mine Owners’ Associa tion, and had the backing of the mongrel body called the Citizens ‘Alliance. Secret meetings of these bodies were held, and plots were hatched that would bring the state militia to the scene. ° * ° In the next instalment Haywood will write more of the Citizens’ Alliance, the “American Plan” of those days, and what its function was in the strike at Colorado City,