The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 27, 1929, Page 6

Page Six Baily $2. Worker Central Organ of the Communist Party of the U. Daily Worker New York, N. Y Mussolini Holds An Election, The Mussolini fascist dictatorship in Italy takes pride before the world in the number of voters who marked “Ye under the emblem of the crossed revolver, dagger and black- | jack in last Sunday’s elections. The kept press, like the New York Sun, declaring (Tuesday, March 26), that, “That en- dorsement is worth having at home and abroad,” will seek to coin out of the election results, popular approval of the Mus- solini regime. Workers and peasants forced to the polling booths, with the barrel of a gun placed at their heads, and a fascist dagger scratching their ribs, are ““Yes-men” on paper only. Suffering the agonies of rationalization, and all its evils, unemployment, wage cuts, the longer workday (the eight-hour day has been completely abolished) and the disruption of their organiza- evidently feel they are not yet in a position successfully. They bide their time. Arnaldo Cortesi, writing in the New York Times from Rome, declared with blackshirt joy that: “What the fascists could do, in the way of obliging the voter to go to the polls, by means of their powerful organization, em- bracing every field of activity in Italian life, they did.” This Cortesi even suggests that: “Perhaps some voters had a vague fear that the fascisti may have had some system for checking up contrary votes, and this may have induced some who would haye wished to vote against them to change their minds.” It is reported that in a large number of Communes in Tuscany, the workers and peasants were lined up in military formation and forced to go to the polls listening to bands playing fascist anthems. It may be taken for granted that this mass intimidation was quite general. Everywhere the catholic clergy, Mussolini having made peace with the vatican, participated most energetically, thus sprinkling holy water on the whole ghastly proceeding. Even under such conditions the Italian Communist Party carried on an heroic and historic struggle against fascism. It waged its campaign, illegally to be sure, but effectively in the great industrial centers. The greatest number of con- trary votes were cast in the great industrial centers of the North. Milan, with its revolutionary proletariat, headed the list with 23,000 opposing votes, followed by Genoa with 8,000; Turin with 7,000; Trento and Bologna 5,000 and Como, Cuneo and Undine 4,000. These are the figures that carry significance for the world’s revolutionary movement. They prove conclusively the strong contact that the Communist Party has with the Italian masses, who ‘will in time slough off fascism, its grand council and 400 handpicked candidates, along with the big industrialists, bankers, landowners and priests and establish the democratic rule of the workers and peasants in the Italian proletarian dictatorship, that will abolish class tyranny, of which fascism is one of the vilest expressions in the present imperialist era. ° The Agonies of “The New Tammany” The seeming tumult in the ranks of New York demo- erats over the Tammany Tiger’s efforts to give birth to a “new leader” to succeed George W. Olvany, recently resigned, should not excite the workers of the metropolis. The delivery will take place in due time and the Tammany Tiger will not have changed or lost any of its stripes in the process. There is much talk of the “chaotic situation” created be- cause the “new leader” has so far failed to materialize, “the embarrassing situation” confronting the “Big Four’—Smith, Walker, Wagner and Foley—that has been appealed to in an effort to get the job done in approved style, while the district leaders are kept crowding each other in the background. It should be a good circus act for the working class, not to be taken seriously, instead to be laughed at. But it is a serious business for Tammany, since it involves bringing to life and keeping alive a “New Tammany,” a “Reform Tam- many” for the municipal elections this fall, that will be able to attract all of the “best people” at the polling booths. “Al” Smith tried to put over the “purified Tammany” in the presidential elections last fall. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the “silk stocking” Tammany governor, is even now trying desperately to carry out the same mission at Albany. Roose- velt even goes so far as to claim that he is not allied with Tammany at all. But the fact remains that the: votes con- trolled by the Tammany machine in New York City sent him to the governor’s chair up the river. Without these votes he would have lost miserably. The women leaders of Tammany, in this purification process, are even consulted to the extent of having their pictures taken for the daily press. Governor Roosevelt, in the closing days of the state leg- islature, keeps issuing alleged favorable statements on pro- posed “labor legislation,” with the object of throwing good big buckets of sand in the eyes of the workers. But some- how, at the critical moment, sufficient votes do not seem to materialize to put any worthwhile legislation on the statute books. It is often conveniently blamed on the republicans. The labor bureaucrats, who are a part of Tammany, and, the socialists who have a great admiration for “Al” Smith, seize upon Roosevelt’s publicity, and similar propaganda, as sure indication that something good can come out of the Tammany Tiger, thus carrying out their role of loyal reform- ist agents of the established capitalist order. But Tammany, creature of capitalism, remains as anti-labor as ever. It is not too early for the workers of New York City to study this situation as part of the preparations for the strug- gle leading up to this autumn’s elections. Nothing good for the working class can come out of Tammany, out of the re- publican party, or out of the socialist party. The only fight for labor in the fall elections will be waged by the Commun- ist Party under the banner carrying the slogan “Class Against Class” in the war against the oppressors of labor. This election will take on not only a national, but an inter- national significance. Labor the world over looks to New York City as the strongest citadel of imperialist oppression. Labor will be cheered everywhere by the knowledge that the fist of the working class, within the walls of this imperialist fortress, grows stronger and stronger. An aroused working class in New York City can make the new leader of the “New By OTTO HALL In a previous article we reported |on the general conditions of Negro workers in Northern industrial cen- ters, as seen by us on our recent tour. The present article will tell of the reaction of these workers to} | these “slum” conditions. This tour, in which all districts were covered, from the Atlantic to| the Pacific coast, brought the writer | \in contact with many thousands of} Negro workers in all important in- | dustries in which they are allowed to work. These workers were very frank in expressing their opinions regarding conditions as they saw them. Those of you who have been inter- ested in the “Negro Question” and have been keeping up with all the literature extant purporting to deal with this question, have heard much about the “New Negro” who seems to have appeared during and since the recent world imperialist war. And as a result of this much bunk is extant about this supposedly new type of Negro, and many wrong im- pressions prevail. Many have as- sumed that the “noisy complaints” and whinings of a certain group of Negro intellectuals representing, as they call it, the “cultured tenth” ex- pressed in poetry, essays and novels, |are the “voice” of the “New Negro.” | This is erroneous. These Negroes |vepresent only a rising Negro cap- alist class who want to be taken | into the great white capitalist class |and together with them exploit all | the workers. Modern “Uncle Toms.” There is not much that is “new” about this Negro that they refer to at all. Many of this type are the same old “handkerchief heads” who | have only exchanged the cotton |bandanna for a silk one. In other words, they are the modern “Uncle | Toms” who instead of wearing the old “cotton jeans” are now appear- |ing in “cutaway” coats and “top” hats. The real “New Negro” is to be found among the workers who have | been drawn into the industries. The |eonsequent process of proletarian- | ization is making these workers more and more class conscious. Their resentment against conditions is not expressed in loud mouthed “vaporings” or whining pleas for justice but by determined attempts to organize and fight for better con- ditions, These “New Negroes” voted the Communist ticke: in the recent election campaign because they were convinced that the old’ bourgeois parties do not serve workers but capitalists. There were more of those who voted our ticket than is commonly known. In almost every district where our candidates were on the ballot. I spoke with Negro workers who had voted our ticket. In-such out of the way places as Spokane in the far west and mining centers like Wheeling, W. Va., and Triadelphia, I found Negroes who voted for our candidates, They told the writer that what convinced them more than anything else of our sin- cerity was the campaign we carried on in the South. Party Practices What It Preaches” A woman worker in Denver told Tammany,” the standard bearer of another forlorn hope of he writer that when she heard of | Defense Corps Organized by Negroes Smashes | Lynching Bee of White Mobsters DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, WEDN ESDAY, MARCH 27, 1929 for advocating complete equality for was convinced that our Party prac- When she was told that our. Party is a per- | manent organization that not only carries on election campaigns but organized the workers for a con- tinuous fight against the bosses till capitalism is finally overthrown, she said that she had been waiting for this kind of an organization for | a long time and that she was willing to join and fight with us. workefs are the real‘ New Negroes.” | tices what it preaches. Negro Defense Organization. Another example of this “New Negro” was found in a certain city whose name will not be mentioned for obvious reasons. Many Negro | organizations have drawn up res- |olutions against lynchings, petition- ing presidents, governors, etc., in a jvain attempt to check this vicious |“pastime.” But a certain new “de- |fense” organization tried a more effective method, A Negro who was suspected of the “usual crime” was picked up in the heart of the “black belt” of this city late one night by a gang of | white hoodlums in an automobile. Some Negroes noted this, and sus- pecting the purpose of these “hood- lums” notified some members of this “defense” organization, These Negroes, about 25 in number and well armed, got into automobiles and followed these hoodlums to the outskirts of the city where a mob with all the equipment for a lynch- ing festival was waiting for the vic- tim. Before the mob had a chance to. accomplish their design these Negroes who were following them caught up with them, held the mob at bay, and took their intended vic- tim away from them, And in spite of the protests of the mob that they | were not going to harm the “darky” but were just going to have a little Comrade Foster's arrest in Delaware All the Protection You Want! — We'll Show Those Bolsheviks! By William Gropper. The “Real” New Negro upon religion. In a midwestern city the writer was billed to speak at a church, This church differed with many churches in that the entire membership from the pastor down were workers. The preacher was of the type known as “Jackleg” | “fun,” marched them back to the) Preacher, a type that is now disap- | chief of police. The chief of police| | refused to hold any of the mob but wanted the Negroes to turn over to him the Negro who was to have been lynched. This request was refused and the chief was warned that the next time this mob attempted any- thing like that they would not be |taken to jail, but would be killed! on the spot. The news of this epi-| sode spread all over the state and | These | this organization has now from 800/ tion. to 1000 members. Pershing Speaks to Negro Workers. all workers, regardless of color, she; city and turned them over to the| pearing, one who was not a perma- nent fixture anywhere but who goes where he is “called” and who usu- ally works at odd jobs during the week and preaches on Sunday, As was his usual practice before meetings, the writer visited this place early in the afternoon to be- come acquainted and make connec- tions. In the pastor’s “study” were a couple of preachers and a few workers, members of the congrega- They were discussing condi- tions generally and talking about the scarcity of work and the condi- tion of the Negro workers. One of This defense organization shows |not only interest in Negro workers jas well. George Pershing, well | known organizer of the anti-imperi- | alist league passed through that city jon his recent tour. While there he | spoke at a street meeting to Negro | workers out in the “black belt.” A Negro policeman attempted to in- terfere with him and arrest him. | This policeman told him to take that “stuff” he was talking out of that vicinity and go away to the whites where he belonged. Several Negroes in the crowd who were members of the defense organization got around the policeman and prevented him from breaking up the meeting. One |of them told the policeman that if they wanted to listen to the speaker it was nobody’s damn business and that he would not “get well” if he attempted to butt in. After Persh- ing finished speaking the leader in- vited him to speak before their or- ganization. They told him they were very much interested in what he had to say. Not Interested In Religious Bunk. Another interesting incident dealt with how the “New Negro” ‘looks Breaking Chains these preachers said that this period was predicted in the book of “reve- |lations” or something of that sort, but class conscious white workers|and we must be like “Daniel” who | although cast into the lion’s den never lost his faith in God. These work- ers told him that this was the |“bunk” and that they were not in- | terested in what happened 2,000 years ago, but wanted to know what could be done to better their con- ditions now. They said, “That is the reason why we asked this ‘gentle- man’ to come down here and speak to us. What we want to know is how to organize and fight against these hard times and ‘Jim Crow’ conditions. My family cannot live on the book of revelations.” Although the writer never liked to speak in a church it was sometimes unavoidable and this meeting was fruitful and got good organiza- tional results, * * * The next article will deal with the organizational results of the tour and our future prospects, Blind Workers Uncared in “Socialist” Reading READING, Pa. (By Mail)—A plea has been made to the state de- partment of welfare that a. woman who held a position as a caretaker of a comfort station in this “social- ist” city be considered for reap- pointment because her husband had been blind for the past 15 months and his wife is practically the sole support of the family, which in- cludes three children, aged 13, 12 and 2 years, “We shall give this matter our consideration,” was all that Mayor Stump had to say. The power of the bourge: not alone upon Internatio: upon its stro Log! ital, international connec- 1e se nloeraghds 1, Lenin (“Lert” ‘Comme No sooner is the exploitation of the Inborer by the manufacturer, ‘wo far at an end, that he receives hin wages in cash, then he tn net j pawnbroker, ete—Karl Marz (Communist Manifesto). = =—. Copyright, 1929, by Publishers Co., Ine. HAYWOOD'S BOOK All rights resc,ved. Republica- tion forbidden except by permissicn, ‘Labor Congratulates Haywood on His Release; Strange Attitude of Moyer, Darrow and DeLeon; Two Letters In previous installments Haywood has told of his carly life on farm, cowranch and in the mines; of his leading strikes of the Western Federation of Miners, and helping to organize the I. W. W.; of being tried and acquitted on a frame-up charge of murdering @ governor. In the last issue he told of visiting friends after his release, including one in @ convent hospital. Now read on. “ier eae By WILLIAM D HAYWOOD. PART 70. N the street corner, as I left the convent, I met Robertson, who was the oldest man in the jury. He said, “Well, my son, how are you?” i st rate, thank you,” I answered. He continued: “William, they could have bleached my old bones before they could have convicted you. Now you be quiet awhile.” Then he wished me a safe journey home. That afternoon Moyer was released on twenty- five thousand dollar bail, furnished by the Butte Miners’ Union. I went to the jail and bid Pettibone good-by. The date of his trial had not yet been fixed. Some of the witnesses were going to remain for his trial, or at least until the date was set. si i When the news of my acquittal was received a ¢ mining camps of the West there was a genera it Aa Eicinie tons of dynamite were exploded in the celebration. In Goldfield when I went there ; later they showed me the dents that had been made in the ae oeeny bars in the saloons by the hobnails of the boys who had anced celebrate their joy at my release. There is no way of estimating fe much whisky was drunk for the occasion. Drinking whisky was the iners’ elebrating. sia cas drove with my wife and mother to the depot, Wee the train was already made up. I helped my mother on Beat oe carried my wife to her berth. Then I went bo get eueates Ss picked him up in my arms he whispered to me, “Let Charley help xt, Bill.” Moyer was there visiting Murphy, He and I put our hands together and made a “chair” to carry BE UEDEy, to the carriage. * * HE first town of impcstance that we came to was Pocatello. There was a big crowd at the station, and at the request of a committee I spoke to the crowd, standing on a freight truck. The wre eas sultry, and my invalids were worn and tired when we got to Salt ake, We stopped there two days, my wife and daughters staying with my sister Maud. Murphy went on to Denver with a friend. In Salt Lake I was overwhelmed with the congratulations of relatives and members he labor organizations. : is Danse Senaipanied us on part of the journey, He seemed peevish | and sulky, but I knew of no reason for this except my refusal to retire to the mountains as he had advised me. ‘ ‘i When we got to Leadville, though it was very early in the morning, there was a delegation to meet the train. I was still in bef, but some of the boys handed in a bottle of whisky from the platform in honor of the occasion. 3 The train made a record trip; it got to Denver on time for once. There was a tremendous crowd awaiting its arrival. Outside the Union Depot in Denver there was an arch with the word welcome in electric lights, to greet travelers arriving in the city, The sign was dark; I was told that the authorities, under the influence of the Citizens’ Al- liance, had had the light put out. But the sign was nothing to me; I could see the light of welcome in the eyes of the thousands of workers who had come to meet me. 3 I put my wife in a chair and rolled it to the carriage that was waiting, and we moved through cheering throngs to the Albany Hotel. I carried my wife to her room, then went back to the carriage and spoke from the seat to the people gathered in the street, thanking them for what they had done for me, and asking them to continue their support until Moyer and Pettibone stood beside me, free men. * * . Y work began at once, as I had many hundreds of telegrams to answer, and letters of congratulation were coming in every day. I replied to them all. One of especial importance was a resolution from the Socialist Congress then in session in Stuttgart, “The International Congress sends William Haywood the congra- tulations of the Socialist movement of the world in view of the mag- nificent fight he put up in the interests of the organized workers of the United States. It condemns emphatically the attempt of the mine owners to have an innocent person punished by law only because of his services to the cause of the organized workers. The Congress secs in the legal proceedings and in the systematic campaign of slander carried on by the entire capitalist press against Haywood the expres- sion of the class policy of the bourgeoisie of America, which is coming more and more to the fore, and of the bourgeoisie’s total lack of toler- ance and sense of honor in all occasions when its profits and its power are threatened. The Congress also congratulates the Socialists of the United States on the enthusiasm and solidarity with which they resisted this attack, The class conscious proletariat of Europe looks upon the enormous strength manifested by this act of solidarity as a guarantee of unity for the future and hones that the American proletariat will show the same solidarity and determination in the fight for its com- plete emancipation.” * * AMONG the communications was a letter from Daniel DeLeon, written ; uae he had left for Stuttgart, and delivered to me some time ater. “Such, I know, must have been the shower of congratulations that poured upon you at your acquittal that I purposely kept in the rear lest my voice be drowned in the multitude. ...I am about to leave for Europe for the International Socialist Congress. Things in America remain in a disturbed and disordered condition. Nevertheless, it is a state of disorder and disturbance from which your acquittal is calculated to bring speedy order and harmony. The capitalist class has again Wrought better for the Social Revolution than that class is aware—it has, through your own celebrated case, built you up for the work of unifying the movement upon solid ground. Those who have been early in the struggle have necessarily drawn upon themselves animosities, However undeserved, these animosities are unavoidable; and what is ~ worse yet, tend to disqualify such organizations and their spokesmen for the work of themselves speedily effecting unification, however cer= tain the soundness of their work may make ultimate unification. Im- portant as their work was in the past, and will continue to be, not through them could a short cut to victory, through united efforts, be made, The very value of their work in one direction interferes with their power in another. As I said, the capitalist class, through this late persecution of you, has ‘produced’ the unifier—the Socialist who understands, as the Socialist Labor Party does, that, without the ballot, the emancipation of the working class cannot be reached; and that, without the industrially economic organization of the workers, the day of the workers’ vietory at the polls (even if such victory could be at- tained under such circumstances), would be the day of their defeat; last, not least, the Socialist who is unencumbered by animosities insepar- truggle. We are again in the day: 8 Organized out of warring free-soi and abolitionist, and of up to then wavering elements. Thanks to you! own antecedents, your celebrated case, the unanimity of the worki class in your behalf, and your triumphant vindication, the capitalist class has itself hatched out the needed leader. The capitalist class has thrown the ball into your hands. You can kick it over the goal... . ‘Men who are incapable of appreciating straight-forward and cone sistent action have long been Pronouncing the S,L.P. dead, more lately also the I.W.W., and myself as merely anxious to ‘hang on to some- thing,’ The soundness of the S.L.P. principle with the power of its press, insures it against any such death. As I stated in the course of the Yecent debate, ‘As to Politics,’ so long as its mission remains un- fulfilled, the S.L.P. will hold the field unterrified; the day, however, when ‘the I.W.W, will have reflected its own political party, in other words, the day when the vicious nonsense of ‘pure and simple political Socialism’ will be at an i a shout of joy that the * * * In the next issue, Haywood tells of his reaction to DeLcon’s letter, and the great speaking tour he undertook, You can get Haywood's book free with a year's subscription, new or renewal, to the Daily Worker, i of