The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 1, 1929, Page 3

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1929 Page Three THE NEGRO WORKERS IN NORTHERN INDUSTRY By OTTO HALL. (National Field Organizer of the Workers (Communist) Party) In traveling through industrial penters in the United States, ime is impressed with the gencral \imilarity in appearance of the so- ralled “Black Belts” tities. Go to any ci ae ity that has a tumble-down shacks or old fashioned | | that were formerly occupied by|signs reading “We do not cater to} flats (usually condemned), and one) middle class whites in the 90’s or Negroes”, while in some cities, other finds himself in what is simetimes|earlier, for which they pay high| methods are used. For example, in |politely called the “colored neigh- | borhood.” | Proletarian Districts. | These neighborhoods border on, |W: |tricts are according to law, supposed {now to be non-existent, prostitutes, white and black, “ply their trade” in these neighborhoods, and bootleg joints and cabarets are “wide open.” | Young, Negro children growing up jin this environment, “learn the ropes” at a very early age. Almost every night, groups of idle rich and other parasites, themselves respon- sible for the miserable conditions ob- |taining in these ghettos, drive up in fine limousines (usually parking |them in the next block) flaunting their wealth squeezed from the toil lof these same people in their faces, OTTO HALL. arge Negro population and it is not difficult to find the Negro sec-| ion, It is only necessary to take he nearest street car, ride out to he oldest and most dilapidated sec- |in order to corrupt Negro women, whom they consider their legitimate prey. The object of these excursions |of the rich in the Negro districts, is to indulge in what is known as “changing their luck.” The so-called “better class” Negroes, comprising professional |men and women, such as lawyers, |doctors, dentists, politicians and wealthier Negroes, live in somewhat | |prices. Some of these Negroes, in |order to escape being segregated in| |black belts, buy houses in so-called! usually) “white” neighborhoods, which is re-| “Thompson or are directly in what|sented by the “exclusive” whites, | foundries,” the writer stood at the n : as formerly known as the “Red | and brings about clashes which haye| serving counter for a full half hour in the various light districts.” Although these dis-|sometimes resulted in race riots. The worst parts of these districts | {are usually occupied by the newly} arrived Negro workers from the South, who are forced to live in these conjested districts, paying enorm- ously high rents for small dingy flats. Usually the family is forced to live in one room and to rent out} the other rooms to lodgers. Most! of these workers earn on an average | less than $20 a week, and pay rents | averaging $70 a month or more for |4 or 5 room flats with almost no modern conveniences. ‘In order to| |make this rent they are often forced | to run what is known as “buffet! | flats”, places where they sell moon- Detroit, a prospective Negro patron is offered a meal in the kitchen, In Cleveland at one of the many one-arm _potomaine and when he asked the “counter boy” when would he serve him, this dumb, misguided, $14-a-week, capi- talist-minded slave told him that if he didn’t have time to wait till he got around to him, he could go else- where. There are usually no good hotels in theze cities where Negroes can find accommodations. The so-called “Negro Hotels” are usually tumble- down places without even ordinary conveniences and charge double what a white hotel of a similar class would charge. If a Negro wants to find lodgings or to eat, he must go to the “Negro section” which is usually an out-of-the-way place, far away Proletarianization. larly since the war, and the subse- quent process of rationalization has | brought about the increasing mech-| anization’ of these industries enab- ling the industrialists to use less skilled labor and increase their forces of semi-skilled or unskilled workers. This process is bringing about the | rapid proletarianization of the Negro | masses. These Negroes are usually | unorganized and are given the worst jand most dangerous jobs and paid | the lowest wages. | Every means possible is used to | keep the workers of different na- | tionalities and races divided. Among the various nationalities, religious differences are sharpened, and be- | tween the Negro and white workers the question of color is emphasized. | One of the many methods used is | to make a difference in the wages of | the Negro and white. workers. On} talist “philanthropist” factory own-;loyalty” that these so-called leaders] stays in the alleys until it rots capitalists to further this antagon-| ism, using these Negro welfare clubs, | etc., as a sop to the Negro workers. Some Negro intellectual tool is given a paid job by the corporation as the head of the organization in the particular factory. These or- ganizations attempt to prevent the Negro worker from fighting against “Jim Crow” conditions in the plants and to prevent him from organizing with the white workers. Usually some Negro stool-pigeon is used to organize a Jim Crow com-| pany union and in order to put these unions over, the plea used among the Negro workers is, “We must have our own organization.” These conditions are prevalent in almost all industrial centers where Negro| workers are employed. Growing Class Consciousness. We, ourselves, have noticed the More and more Negroes are being) TS, organize so-called “welfare as-| have used to suereey them to the drawn into the industries, particu-| S0ciations” which are used by the) white ruling class. At a meeting with a group of Negro workers, several questions were put to them by the writer, con- cerning their attitude toward these Negro politicians, business men and professionals. The answer given and opinions expressed by these work- ers were very clear and sharp on this matter. One worker expressed himself in the following manne’ concerning Negro professionals, v “These so-called ‘Big Negroes’, doctors, lawyers, don’t care anything about us workers, all they are con-) cerned about is to get themselves a swell home and a car. When they get a little money, they can’t see us ‘for the dust’ when they meet us on the street.” Another worker expressed himself on Negro bourgeois politicians of the of | shine and rent “transient” rooms.|from the center. This inconvenience These houses are allowed by the/is also experienced by the Negro | landlords to rot away and are hardly | worker who works in places located ever kept in repair. |in the downtown or outlying dis- In most of these cities, the Negro/tricts. If, for instance, a Negro \is discriminated against in the bet-| working in some of the downtown ter class of restaurants, theatres and| places wants to lunch, he is compel- other public places. The forms of | led to either bring his lunch with this discrimination are regulated by him to work, or go to some restau- local conditions in different centers.|rant in the Negro district which is some jobs we find that the white) sharpening of class lines within the worker is given a little more money| Negro race, but the important thing for the same work. This gives the! for us is, that the Negro workers | white worker a feeling of superiority | themselves are beginning to recog- over the Negro and causes him to/nize this difference. The Negro look upon his fellow-worker with) worker is beginning to recognize contempt. In many factories they| himself as a class and is fast* losing have separate locker-rooms, dressing} confidence in the middle-class intel- jrooms and rest rooms for Negro|lectuals and big Negro politicians, workers. | who were formerly accepted by the Organizations comprised of Negro| Negro masses as their leaders. The jion of the city where streets are | better houses, usually at the edges lirtiest, lined on either side by lof these districts, in flats or houses In Pittsburgh they display quite openly, in the white restaurants, | usually too far away for his conveni- ence, | petty-bourgeois intellectuals, poli-| Negro workers are beginning to see haven’t been repaired |republican, democratic and socialist | parties in a similar emphatic man- “T have lived in this town for more than 20 years and have seen these | Negro capitalist politicians come and |go. We've had Negro republican |and democratic aldermen in our ward |and sent several to the state legis- |lature. But what’s the use? Look |at the condition of our streets; they since they ticians, backed by these white capi-! through the fake pretenses of “race [were first paved. The garbage P | | Article 4. By GERTRUDE HAESSLER. | ‘When we say that the shop paper is the organ of the Communist Party in thé shop, that-implies that in addition to educating the worker in che knowledge and consciousness of the class struggle, the shop paper will also champion the worker in} his day to day struggle in the shop and propose immediate solutions where they exist. There is probably not one paper in the country which neglects to lay due emphasis on the jatter phase of shop paper work. Rather, as has been pointed out in previous articles, the erring is on he side of overemphasis and over- lance in favor of immediate de- ands and immediate solutions. | However, whereas sufficient at- Becton is given to shop conditions land the trade union question, ex- beption must be taken to the man- er in which many papers deal with hese problems. Some papers -con- ‘inually point out abuses in the shop, rinting item after item on various onditions from which the workers uffer, but fail to offer any solu- ion of the difficulty, whether it be he trade union, the shop commit- , ot the ultimate solution’ of all he abuses—the overthrow of the apitalist system. To the workers who are not yet advanced enough to supply the solution themselves, even when it is obvious to the class con- scious worker, the paper sounds like a bad-tempered kicker, dissatisfied with everything, and doing nothing but whining and complaining. Dealing too Abstractly. Other papers, while offering reme- dies, do so too abstractly and gen- erally. For instance, there are big lay-offs in the shop and the: paper demands resistance on the part of the workers, but says not a word about a union or a shop committee. The Winchester Worker, District 15, in numbers 2 and 3, speaks only of the workers joining a union, but nothing concrete about any particu- lar union, If there is no union in the field, then certainly the organi- zation of shop committees must be advocated as the beginnings of a union, The American. Bridge Worker, District 5, for instance, in its very first number, speaks of mill com- mittees as a basis for a national steel workers union, and links the idea up excellently with shop con- ditions. In the Mascot, District 2, we see the conscious development in each consecutive number of a clear consistent line on organization —the first number emphasizing the the shop committee in its demands,; The Headlight, District 13, tefers but gives no explanation whatever) to the fakers of the railroad brother- on what it is or how it functions. | hoods in both its numbers, but does | not elaborate t make the situation jclear. The Southwest Miner, Dis- | trict 10, carries on an excellent cam- In those industries where unions} paign against the officials. The exist, but where the majority of the| Stanton Miners Blast, District 5, workers in the shop are not mem-| carries a veritable blast against the bers, the organization drive itself) officials, and, together with the Had- is well carried on, but in most cases dock Miners Light, District 3, car- sufficient criticism of the union of-| ries on a splendid campaign during ficials is neglected. There is a feel-| the miners struggle in the bitumi- ing apparent in the papers that|nous against the officials in the criticism of the officials would dis-| anthracite, as well as in the entire courage joining up. union. The Wright Propeller, District 2,! sinned in this direction, stirring up| a tremendous wave for organization} in the shop, without warning against | the character of the I, A. of M.| Fighting the Union Fakers. Linking Up Organization With Shop Conditions. not stay there long, and left with) skill in the matter of the organiza- r r Where most papers fail to link| leadership, with the result that the up their political material with shop | men who poured into the union, did| conditions, they show. much more) bitterness and a prejudice against| union organization. Not only must | we urge the workers to join the union but also to make it a fighting militant union, which the Propeller has learned to do since. tion drives. A few exceptions, how- ever, must inevitably exist in order to prove the rule. The Milwaukee Harvester Worker, District 8, runs ARTY PRE-CONVENTION DISCUSSION SECTION Shop Papers and Shop Conditions ! shop conditions everywhere in the shop. But they are so run together | that all opportunity for drawing any |concrete conclusions is out of the | question. The Eagle Pencil Worker, District 2, I-2, treats the same sub- | ject in a much better manner. A |guide takes the visitor through a department, showing the conditions |there. The running conversation in a tone of fine irony and sarcasm | brings out the need for organization |splendidly. Issue I-3 takes another | department with the same effect. T. U. E, L. and Left Wing. Too few papers develop the idea of the Left wing and the T. U. E. L. | The Packing House Worker, District |10, for instance, in I-10, runs an larticle on the Labor Unity series| lof articles on the packing industry, jcalling it the magazine of the pro- gressive and Left wing unions. While the idea of urging the reading of the | articles is excellent, the paper fails | to explain what the Left wing move- ment is, and does not even mention j the T. U. E. L. and what it stands for. Creating International Solidarity. The shop paper must consciously | foster the feeling of working class} you can smell it now—and they do nothing about it. They don’t make any kind of fight against race dis- crimination.- The only are concerned with is gct from the ‘up-stairs ‘buffet flats’ and ‘blind pigs’. come around on election days to tell you how much they are going to do for their race and when they get in office you need a high-powered teles- cope in order to see them.” Negro Preachers. Another worker gave us the down” on preache He said that all these preachers work for is to “low- get enough money to buy some old abandoned white church and_ bleed his congregation for the rest of their lives to get it paid for. Another said that Negro landlords were even worse than white ones and that he never would work any more for a Negro boss. They think that you ought to be ready to work for | pay and longer hours for them just because they are colore In the following art tell about my organization experi ences among the N sponse to our meeti the many points I will touch or the effects of our election campa on the Negro mas their attitude toward trade unions, religion and th reaction to our Communist pro- gram and general lessons of the tour, as well, by carrying news of work- er truggle outside the shop. Most of the papers carry relief appeals for the miners, and some for the textile workers, some of them show- ing excellently how the struggle of the miners affects the entire work- ing class, including the workers in that particular shop. But very few carry regular items of working class interest here and abroad. The Work- ers Blade, District 2, is the only paper we know of that carries any story about the Colombian fruit | strike, and very ably develops it in- to a political article on the nature of imperialism and the danger of war. The Ford Worker, District 8, de- scribes the Ferd factory in Denmark, which is under union control, and draws the proper comparisons. The Kodak Wo: r, District 4, hails the shoe workers’ victory and the Red Star, District pledges support to the Paterson silk strikers. But on the whole, we are not yet driving consciously enough for international trade union unity, and for a feeling of solidarity in the struggles of the workers outside the immediate horizon of the ~yorker in the shop. tee bar) The next article will deal with the technical make-up, the ar- rangement of material, of illus- a half page called “News from De-| solidarity not only on a national trations, and general appearance | partments”, terse sentences giving] scale, but on an international scale| of the shop papers. Pi ‘(Continued from Page One) hop asked, “Who is next?” Proletcos as answered. Again must be asked, “Who is ext?” What shop will be the next ‘o contribute a full dey’s pay?” The names of the workers in the roletcos, all of whom contributed | days wages follow: M. Cheskis, Epstein, B. Rosenberg, M. Qbermur, Himelfarb, R. Long, NY. Pélak, Ruth Goodstone, Lipstein, Spitatti, Evasikio, Menchero, ‘aciero, Holobowitz, Striker, B. Fox, Nitzburg, Draezen, Zaroff, Dagivarian, olden, B, Vincene, Bluhm, Zimmer- an,- Sherman, Frank, Berkowitz, . Totas, Vincene, Rosenberg, Men- hero, Elpiaio, Centis, Sarner, War- hevitch, Bouhans, Douker, Wagen- necht, Zeppitini, Levetsky, Rigoni, eter Deberner, M. Scaling, Tommy ‘olk, Sternin, Tilivick, A. Chuber- er, Litwin, Schwartz, Arbar, Rae erson, Brooker, Endue, Hirtzberg, fazarkovitch, Diaz, Schneider, Pap- s, Nelson, Charlisky, Van ‘Pratt, ibans, Warsherski. ~ nt in by Sam Krieger, Chi- RG, TUS ecsateiasse seas ‘hurber, P, Lewis, $5; Sec- ‘ion 6, Nucleus No. 30, $3; N. Green, $1; G. Simansky, $2; M. Bohenko, $3; Section 4, Nucleus 9, Cicero, Ill. $30; Section 6, Nucleus 32, 2; B. Krasnow, $1.50; Sec- tion 4, Nucleus 17, $7.50; jon 1, Nucleus 16, $2; Ukrainian Workers Club at entertainment, $27; Col- $102.25 EMERGENCY FUND Glatzer, 25c; M. Margulis, 25c; Rovner, 25c; Kramer, 25c; A. Mankin, 60c. Col- lected by A. and L. Cohen, | Nucleus 29—Peck, $1; H. | Hoericke, 25¢; I. Lippin, | 0c; M, Feingold, $1; Joe | Seff, 50c; Foster, $1; Rose Bergman, $2; F. Slovchick, 1. Collected by Jennie Gar- shin—Hilda Levin, 50c; Nodelman, $1; J. Podkudski, 50c; Nex, $1; N. Debrek, 1; Jennie Garshin, $1. Col- lected by B. Grenadier—A. Lee, $1; H. Bell, $1; B. Grenadier, $2. Collected by Bertha Merkel — Bertha Merkel 75c; Sylvia Silver, 25c; J. Shapiro, 25¢; L. Cin- cola, 25¢c; Eva Ginsberg, 25c; Helen Eisensten, 25c; Trene Clapp, 25c; Mary Mas- ak, 25¢; Ida Krichiver, 50c. Sent in by Sarah Victor, De- troit, Mich. — Ukrainian Workers Club, $20; Hay- wood, I, L. D. Branch, $14; Lithuanian, A. L. D. L. D. No. 52, (By L. Yonek) $6; St. Nucleus No. 6; $2; F. Dinkfelt, $2; David Jones, Shop Nucleus No. 14, $4; Mrs. Elkind §2, . Afghanistan Progressive As- sociation of America, De- troit, Mighs «is: saree cotins 4 Sent in by Street Nucleus No. 10, Cicero, Ill.—S. Gentoli, $1; J. Stanley, $1; Bacevich, $1; J. Pudzunas, $3; S. Yun- kelnnas, 50c; K. Kielly, $1; 51.60 _ 35.00 lected by A. Mankin—Rose Solker, 15¢; Rae Glazer, 25c; » The Daily Worker, 26-28 After reading the appeal for a ing yeu the enclosed amount, $.... J. Butvill, $1; M. Bacevich, $1; Mrs. P. Apalski, $1; J. |CAN ‘DAILY’ SURVIVE? Funds Vital if Our Press is to Live Respond immediately to the appeal of the Daily Worker for aid in its present crisis. Union Square, New York, ‘id in the Daily Worker 1 am send- need for organization, and mention-; union and shop committee to these ing the ae, et later bearing | workers who are not acquainted with down more heavily on joining the| how this weapon can protect them. union, and finally advocating shop| committees, explaining concretely| The idea of the shop, mill, plant, how they must be formed gradually| or mine committee has pretty well and secretly, the subseqent numbers| penetrated into practically every carrying items of the progress being| paper we now have, and room for made in this work. improvement exists only in a little The Uneeda Workers Champion. he eke an slate Ree a v it it ti District 2, is full of shop news, but | form tet, and: Sates eee Ae its advocacy of organization is some-|genuity in linking them up con- Ci Gah Ot ee oe ne n OP 58 5 ‘in. Plate Worker, District, 5, an offered is srgenies sols ‘al erated the Wheeling Corrugating Toiler, ee i atten a nae me District 5, both do this very well in iring, Of workers 4 1€ the very first issue. The Red Star, workers to fight against such condi-| District 2, also advocates the shop tions, without telling how. committee in the first issue and This too abstract handling of the|/inks. it up with a spontaneous) matter of organization shows that and leaderless department strike we have lost sight of the fact that| that had taken place just before is- in our organization drive, we are| Suing the paper. Where various concentrating especially on the un-|CTaft unions are already represented organized, the majority of whom|in the shop, the shop committees are have not even the tradition of or-| VeTY well advocated as supplements ganization, and consequently we | to the union for bringing about soli- must explain the value of organiza-| arity throughout the entire shop. tion and the functioning of a trade|The Headlight, District 13, includes Balandi, $1; M. Butvill Schenectady, N. Y.—R. $10, cree ee ee eeeeeeeenee 21.50} Kone, $3; C. Hildebrandt, $3 - 6.00 Pontiac Street Nucleus, Pon- Collected by Nucleus 14, Chi- City his ee Ue eee /ollec' yd. Aynich, Hy be orzich, +4 Louis Shanias, Kenosha, general collection, $2.05.... 6.05 Wise.—Marko Feed ae Naisjaosto, Houghton, Mich. 5.00 Be apn niet Finnish Ladies Society, Fort $5; A. Baradico, 20c; A. ee Rae a es ae Buckriskis, $1; A. Saladis, Pe Da eee ee B00 $1; A. Lisnick, $1; P. Boran, {noe ae on es pene ay $1; Alex Lishon, 40c; G. Ey Sage Race aamneens aaa y= Paivlovich, 50c; J. Norton, 4B, OB Git gn ee se Bi Abas Bison: 19.10 | Anna Firestone, 1F, 2B, Sity 5.00 Seas 5K. Chapiik, 2° Collected by Jennie Rovinsky, Berkeley, Calif.—Collected Se Ne ae, Coen by William Selles—R. Vi- chs AEE; we. MOrROnateT, kandes, 25c; J. Gaffanto, $1; O. Radinowski, $1; Wur- 25c; F. Kreutzer, 25c; Sara, eae y Jon. Tadeviel ee 25c; Jeason, 25c; Markers, . @ ‘ any 4 Tacoma, Wash.—John Tade- este pia: vich, $3; Shop Uucleus, $2. 5.00 th J DBE N. Halos! abe Collected by H. Mattson, As- Relieeed sola nae Oral toria, Ore.—E. Mattila, 50c; = “Margolis ‘st; E TE A. Janison, 35c; F. Burman, . » $1; EL . : son, $1. Collected by C. Mu- oF ay Sie Sa granis, Oakland, Calif—aA, ki ”50cs Ac turve;) Bleck, é if y 3 ’ 2 Ges eure seh Dangoty G06; | «| Pats abe} O. Mak) Bbc... 6,60 F rae Wn $820, New | Es, Bolland, Pierpont, $.Dak. 5.00 York Oty reverse 12.00|4 2B City ean anes. 6.00 4F, 2C, New York City .... 15.00] Cpllected by F. A. Condy, Julius Osleeb, Collected by by, $13 BF Conby, $15. Bee ones Section 1, al V. Conby, $1; A. Conby, $1; Whrainle | BE Conby, $1 .........00e 5.00 Se od peated Comrades Chorus (Kamra- as Pebaiaes ‘ges fem), Rockford, ii... . 5,00 0 -e 'y | Msg - 2 i diak, $1; A. Petrie, $1; S. “ells: Creinhton,? Pass, 2. 4.00 ae $1 and $4 in small Abia F. Kallies, Indianapolis, Ind. 4,00 | v ft “V9 Collected by Int. Branch, Shop Nucleus No. 1,, Detroit, Union City, N. J.—Frank Seargsee Alargo’" Workers | Bere Su: Cozles Carey. $1; Rae aa eae cid oe ee y Multon, Chieago, ae se. 4.00 » . .00 | (3, . Cone 1F, 2B, New York City.... 1000) NH... yes te. 4.00 alga i ag stead era J. Kunzelman, St. Joseph,Mo. 4.00 ity, -Mo. ir. E. A, Collected by Geo. Palestys, iH. » 50c; P. Lu- A. Nicolaon, 5Cc; M. Bory, cas, 50c; C, Zurema, 50c; 50c; G. Palestys, 60e; P.Ka- Geo. Kvaternik, 50c; M. kovlly, 50¢; T. Nicolaon, 50c 3.00 Drozda, MUR Verne acate 9.50 | Collected by S. Copereon, De- Bene i ae maa hl rk troit, Mich—G. ee $1; r, N, Y.—Lanza, $1; L, Sebesan, $1; S. Cojereon, C. Gava, $1; G. Cottone, i ee 8:00 50c; E, Nack, $2; Fantanzzo $1; Brecciaroli, 50c; S. Tior - - loff, City. i.s..:eseeeceene 8.00 ani, 25c¢; H. Nack, $1; G, Collected by Karl J. Malm- Barile, 50c; Cobapinco, 25e, 8.00} strom, South Bend, Ind.— ae eae Farha ae - a nen a as a mboy, N. J........ 8.50| Anderson, 3 J. Biro, ; Sent in by E. Miller, Toledo, A Friend, 10c........2066. 8.00 Ohio—American Federation Dan Rodgers, Warren, Ohio. 2.00 of R. R. Workers, $5; E. R. Collécted by A. Lerkoff, Spo- 5 ronx.... 7. 3 D. Scottac: ec; D. Sent in by 8. Rashal, Brook- Hosroeff, 50c; A. Kosoff, lyn—-S, it., $3: M. Opivin, $3 6.00 2he; G, Hadaeff, 25c; I. Sur- Sent in by A. J. Gutzim —— — vekoff, 26¢ ., evens 2125 CABINET WON'T HEAR JOBLESS British Minister Hides} Behind Labor Fakers | LONDON, Feb -—Sir Winston | Churchill, chancellor of the ex-| chequer, told a Communist Part; questioner in parliament that there | would be “no useful purpose served’ by granting the recent request of the “army of unemployed” for an interview with Premier Stanley Raldwin. He said, however, that the premier always is ready to hear requests from recognized represen- tatives of any groups. It was re- called that the unemployed army, which marched here from various suffering districts, lacked the en-| dorsement of the reactionary, | treacherous General Council of Trade Unions, which gives Churchill his excuse to refuse to hear them. The workers of London, however, sick of the General Council’s anti- labor actions, welcomes the march- ing representatives of the unem- ployed from all parts of England, and hears them gladly, at huge mass meetings. 5 HOSIERY MILLS MERGE. BLOOMFIELD, N. J., (LRA).— The Brilliant Silk Hosiery Co., of Bloomfield, Lansdale Silk Hosiery Co. of Lansdale, Pa.,. and Finery | Silk Hosiery Co. of Clifton, N. J., | have merged to form Interstate Hos- iery Mills, Inc. The three companies employ over 500 workers. Net rales of the combined companies in 1928 were $4,108,694, according to the Wall Street “ournal. J. Nicolas, Buffalo, N. Y... 2.00 P. Procyshyn, Detroit, Mich. 2.00 Collected in office of Nation- al Textile Workers Union, Paterson, N. J............ 2.84 Section 1, collected by Tal- |nection with them. | MELLON’S POLICE MURDERED MINER Coal Diggers Aroused at Brutal Slaying. (Continued from Page One) and iron police and Mellon’s con-| | | ae | By M. SCHINDLER. | PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 28.—| The motive for the killing of John | Barkoski by coa! and iron police be- came known here today. Aside from the fact ‘that the police hated him as a miner, they had tried to get him to help them in a frame-up and failed. So they thought there was nothing to do but kill him, and An- drew Mellon’s coal and iron police were so brutal about it that a cor- | oner’s jury called it “the most fiend- ish murder ever committed.” After John Barkoski, a Tyrne| miner, refused to sign a statement for the coal and iron police to as- sist them in framing up John Hig- gins on a liquor law violation charge, they chased him into his mother-in-law’s home, broke down the door, dragged him into a ma- chine and took him to the Pitts- burgh Coal Company’s police bar- racks at Imperial, where they pro- ceeded to torture him in the most inhuman manner. Watched the Murder. The beating was administered by Lieutenant Walter Lyster, Private Harold Watts and Private Frank Slapikas. with Corpora! Mechling calmly sitting at his desk in the same room an interested observer. Lieutenant Lyster is well known as a killer. Several years ago he was found guilty of killing a miner in another county during a strike. ‘The “liberal” governor, Pinchot, pardoned him. so he could continue his brutalities on the coal miners. John Higgins testified that Watts beat Barkoski for a long while. Higgins said a blackjack and a poker were used and that Barkoski was kicked mercilessly. The wit- ness said that boiling water was thrown in Barkoski’s face. “Barkoski was lying in the middle of the floor, his head down, breath- ing inte his own blood,” Higgins said, describing the scene at the Im- perial Barracks, ithe shoes. Corporal Méchling said: |\‘Hey, you, you’re getting blood on my shoes.’” “Corporal Mechling’s shoes were | near the fire-place, and once, when Rarkoski fell, his head rested on | | Dr. J. M. Patterson, the coal com- | pany doctor who was calied to dress | Watt’s slight cut, testified that the dying miner was propped up in a chair and lashed with a long strap | by Lyster. He also stated that after he had bandaged Barkoski's body, as one of his ribs had broken through the skin, Lyster twisted Barkoski’s ears and then grabbed his broken nose and twisted it. At the hearing it was brought out by another witness that a poker was bent on Barkoski’s body during the beating and straightened several times. Miners Aroused. As a result of this brutal mur- der, the feeling among the miners has become so bitter that it aroused the attention of the entire state. President Morrow of the Pittsburgh Coal Company rushed north from Florida to try to cover up the crime. He has promised Barkoski’s widow 2 “satisfactory settlement” and vis- ited Governor Fisher of Pennsyl- | vania. Need Union. BEGIN MINERS’ RELIEF DRIVE Toohey Backs Plan for National Campaign Continued from Page One The National Office of the W. I. |R. is preparing for a widespread |national campaign of education in jrelation to the unusually severe con- |ditions to be found in the coal |towns, especially in Pennsylvania |and Ohio. As soon as the material |which is being gathered by the |miners union reaches the W. I. R, it jwill be compiled and made public. “When it becomes generally known,” Mrs. Stokes stated, “to |what extent the miners and their ‘wives and children are suffering, it |will create a stir that has seldom \been equalled in this country. Many lof the miners children go to school without any breakfast. Others are dressed in tatters and do not know where their next meal will come from. Our investigation will take \the form of giving actual facts, The militant miners have no illu- Such as the name and address of sions that these murderers will be |Some of the miners who are the vic- punished for their hideous crime. |tims of the coal barons greed. We |They still remember how the coal Will also gather evidence of how the company deputy sheriffs murdered |United Mine Workers officialdom Fannie Seliins during the steel strike and were acquitted after a short trial. Their masters defended them swell. In this case, the Pittsburgh Coal Company, owned by Mellon, has al- ready shielded and will defend their hirelings either openly or secretly. Andrew Mellon is well aware of all the years of torture inflicted upon jthe miners, in fact, this is the method used to keep them from ef- fectively fighting against the mis- erable conditions under which they have to work. The miners know very well that unless they have a strong, fighting, militant miners’ union like the National Miners’ Union, this terror will continue, NEW USSR POWER PLANT. MOSCOW, (By Mail).—The con- struction of the Kondopozhsky hy- dro-electric station in the Karelia Region has recently been completed. The plant is equipped with two turbo-generators with a total ca- pacity of 7.500 horse-power, The other cl; ‘This is the only langnace thet the my, City . . 2.00 W. J. Bowman, Cincinnati, 0. 2.00 H. Pacter, Bronx .......... 2.00 T. Di Roceo, City’...... + 1.00 Emil Reichhardt, Brooklyn. 1.00 Kate Backer, City + (1,00 John Sauko, Chicago, Ill.... 1.00 A. Ohlidy and Louis Singer, Philadelphia, Pa. ......... 1.00 M. Ahonen, Newberry, Mich. 1.00 Mrs. F, Miller, Bozeman, «2,00 |S. Varjian, City pe 00 -| Stanley Booth, West. Palin ' Beach, Fla. « seveee 1.00 bastard nnderstands * + “Lyster kicked Barkoski and said: | aim ‘« decay and finally face of modern in- pear in t junder the direction of John L. Lewis |have openly acted as strikebreakers, jeven going to the extent of re- fusing food to workers who are in opposition to the company union \principles that he favors, | “We intend to make ourselves heard to such an extent that the ‘coal barons and the Lewis crowd jwil! be driven to cover. At the same time, with the co-operation of ths working class, and all honest minded people we will raise funds to feed the starving miners and \their families. We appeal to all ovr friends to support us in order that jour campaign for miners relief iregister the maximum success.” SHOE MACHINERY IN USSR. LENINGRAD, (By Mail).—The | Nevsky machine-building factory ir | Leningrad has commenced the pro- duction of shoe machinery. During the current year it is planned tc | produce 230 complete sets of ma- | chinery. NEW USSR TEXTILE MILL, SARATOV, U.S.S.R., (By Mail) — (In the Saratov region a new trico- (dustry: the leturint is. it ial r 5 Sear tks nroles ne tnuite special | tage factory has been opened. The Cormnatat Manfoatads factory il employ 1,700. workers, « <