The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 4, 1929, Page 6

Page Six Baily Central Organ of the Communist Party of the U. S. A. Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co. Inc... Daily, except Sunday, at 26-28 Union re, New York City, } Telephone Stuyv t 1696. Cable: "DAIWORK: SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only: $8.00 a year $4.50 six months 50 three months By Mail (outside of New York): 3.50 six months ks to the Daily Worker, New York, 00 three months 8 Union Square, $6.00 a year Address and mail all che: Another Disarmament Farce With what by this time has become tiresome monotony Disarmament Conferences have gone through the same mo- tions between convening and adjoining. The current conference at Geneva is typical. It opened with a tremendous blare of oratory. Even Hugh S. Gibson, the head of the American delegation spoke about “drastic reductions” of armaments. A formula of “Equivalent v: WS was proposed by the Americans which was hailed by pacifists as inaugurating a new era of “good will” in international relations, Were the conference really intent on cutting armaments ‘they would have tackled those which are likel; weapons in the next war. This means air for of navies, trained reserves, chemicals and gas ecnference has thus far however eliminated exactly these questions from the scope of its work. The motions of the U. 8. S. R. delegation to accept the phrase “reduction of armaments” used by Gibson was re- jected with the support of Gibson himself and instead the phrase “limitation” was adopted leaving the way open for future developments and only “limiting” certain fields. Gibson’s speech was obviously only to give the masses illusions and was not intended as an actual program of work. What will be left for “limiting” becomes clear by what has been excluded from the agenda. On the insistance of Japan, Italy and France “trained reserves” and “effectives neither in reserves or in the army” have been declared not within the scope of the conference work. All naval questions are referred to a future conference vaguely promised by the Americans and British. The panacea of “equivalent values” hailed by the pacifists, is now being attacked as favoring the American navy. The question of air forces does not appear. The agreements on the use of chemicals include those which are outworn and have been replaced by newer and vastly more powerful substances which are the secrets of the vari- ous imperialist powers and which are therefore not men- tioned. The conference is at the present moment engaged in eliminating the question of “war stocks” from discussion. With all important questions eliminated the “limiting” will obviously be confined to the outworn methods of war, actions which will be similar to those of the Washington Conference which decided to “limit” the use of certain types of battleships which were at that time already considered junk and being used as targets in practice maneuvers. The delegation of the U. S. S. R. is the only one which has already denounced the conference for the farce it is. We have no doubt however that liberals, socialists, labor _ fakers, etc., will continue to sing about the marvellous achieve- ments of the League of Nations and its silly meetings and well advertised speeches which are clearly meant to detract attention from the armament building and war preparations now being carried on by the imperialist powers. Food Will Win the Strike. The Gastonia, N. C. textile strikers are being evicted from their homes in an attempt to break the strike. The courage of the striking workers, however, remains unbrok- en. Tents, in which to house them, are being rushed to the strike region by the Workers International Relief. This strike is an important event in the history of the American labor movement. It is rapidly spreading, bringing the large masses of Southern workers into joint struggle with the northern proletariat. The former hillmen are today organizing into a mil- itant union; are marching om the picket line singing “Sol- idarity Forever.” Unable to exist on the poverty stricken farms, they had moved into the mill villages. They soon realized that they were victims of extreme exploi- tation. The mill owners reduced wages and increased the speed-up. The breaking point of patience was reached and the workers went out on strike under the leadership of the National Textile Workers Union. They have been bayoneted, they have been slugged, jailed and terrorized, but they continued to fight on! They are in the fight to win and will not allow the mill owners to drive them back to the mills until their demands are met. A victory for the striking workers will be a victory like- wise for the workers of the North, East and West. The Workers International Relief is feeding the striking workers, their wives and children. The Workers Interna- tional Relief stores must not be allowed to be empty for even a day. _ Feed the striking workers! Help them win their strike! Send a contribution to the Workers International Relief, Room 604, 1 Union Square, New York City. Skyscraper Crucifixes By C. E. (On Good Friday, the corrupt bosses of one of the most corrupt cities in the world, Philadelphia, agreed to light the windows of the skyscrapers into the shapes of vast crosses.) * The skyscrapers spurted to the skies in fountains of white brick— creation of the masses shining through the night gloom of the great city. Huge crosses of light, skyscraper crucifixes, tower over the masses teeming on the streets. Skyscraper crucifixes forty stories high lead priests and lords to dreams of mass crucifixions— Tat Forgetting one jerk, one swift sweeping gesture of the awakened mass will hurl the metropolis into Before the British Election DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1929 MAY DAY IN BER By R. PALME DUTT (London) y 30th takes ion in Britain since that of 1924, which led to the fall of the MacDonald labor government a: its replacement by the Baldwin co servative government. In the five years interval between those two dates there have taken place the LIN _ New Left Bloc Is Mane Exports were £78 millions below the level of 1924, The production of coal was 27 million tons below the level} e the first Keonomic Problems Insoluble in Capitalism; uver Against Workers portion of capital is at present be- ing invested in home industry. Thus a situation is developing in of 1924, of pig iron 700,000 tons be- low, of steel some 300,000 tons above, of ship-building about the same. The registered figure of unemploy- ment showed a similar total of about one and a third millions in both years. The general character of a volume of production falling some 10 to 20 per cent below pre- war, despite increased productive munist Party. It is a whole period POWe? remains constant. 1929 shows of history that is closing, and a|" sign yet of advance, but even | new period that is opening, at the | some worsening, although in the last | time of this election. |few weeks the figure of unemploy- Goa hig’ Taeue. ment has slightly decreased. In general, the dominant issue of new forces at work which, though the election is the problem of the | not capable of solving the crisis, are | British economic crisis, the mass un-/ ]jkely to effect important changes in employment and depression of the the situation. The drive to ration- General Strike and the Anglo-Soviet break, the war on the Chinese Rev lution, the growth of Anglo-Amer- ‘ican antagonism, Locarno and the return to the Gold Standard, the continued economic depression, the Trade Union Act and the Mond Con- | ferences, the completed social demo- cratic transformation of the Labor Party, and the new line of the Com- Nevertheless, there are signs of} | basic industries, and consequent weakening of the international posi- tion of British capitalism, which has continued unbroken now for nearly nine years. This issue, raising in| turn ever more sharply the class issue of capitalism and the working class, has governed in successive forms the past three general el tions, of 1922, of 1923 and 192 |In 1922, it led to’ the collapse of} the Lloyd George Liberal Party and the return of the conservatives un- der Bonar Law on a program of “tranquility.” In 1928, it led to the attempt | Baldwin, the successor of Bonar Law as the leader of the conservative party, to carry through a program| \of protection as the solution of the| \crisis; and the defeat of this, and} | the growth of the labor vote, led to | the temporary formation of the “La-| bor” government with capitalist sup- port. In 1924, the failure and fall of the Labor government led to the return of the Baldwin Conservative government. Today, this issue enters onto a new phase. The special character of the new phase is the question of capitalist rationalization, which is now at last beginning to advance seriously in Britain. The demand for active industrial reconstruction has now become urgent. All three of the governing parties, Conservative, Liberal and Labor, are ardent advo- cates of capitalist rationalization, and basically at one; but they dif- fer as to the methods of its appli- cation, and particularly, with regard to the role of the state, and on fi- nancial and credit policy. Thus the immediate issue of the election turns on the forms and methods of. capi- talist rationalization. The working class opposition to capitalist ration- alization is voiced solely by the Communist Party, which for the first time enters the election as a fully independent factor. In this way, the General Election of 1929 brings forward more sharply than ever before the’ whole issue of capi- talist reconstruction on the one side, with its consequences of intensified exploitation of the workers and rapid advance to war, and on the, other side, the working class fight against capitalism, expressed for the first time on a clear and independ- ent program of revolutionary class struggle against all the capitalist parties. New Stage of British Crisis. On the surface view, the British economic situation shows _ little change from five years ago. The in- dustrial depression continues un- broken, and, indeed, slightly de- creased, Production and trade in 1928 were below the levels of 1924.) next step. A rapidly increasing pro; !ous basis, ‘The recent rising of the|and Labor Parties, ~ alization in Britain, though late, has at last definitely begun. These new issues are receiving their reflection in the election. What are the compelling causes which are driving the British bour- geoisie to a more active industrial policy, so that this issue is becom- ing the central issue of the election, and may become the basis of a change of government. First, the relative position of British capitalism in contrast to the other countries, not only of the new world, but also of Europe, has be-| come desperate and urgent. British capitalism alone has not yet shared in the general advance of the “third period.” In the beginning of this year the “Financial Times” (22-1-29) published a table of the comparative index figures of production for the |leading countries on the base of 1913 as 100. This table showed that by 1927 every leading country ex- cept Britain had surpassed the pre- war level of production. For the first eight months of 1928, the Uni- |ted States stood at 166% of pre- |war; France at 125%; Germany at 118%; Western Europe in general jat 111%; Britain 90%. The urgency of the situation represented by these ifigures is obvious, Modernization Necessary. Second, the advance to war and the intensification of international competition and antagonism, char- acterizing the whole new period of capitalism, makes more imperative than ever for the British bourgeoisie to modernize their equipment and organization at home. Hitherto, they ‘have concentrated essentially, |through the path of the restoration of the gold standard, on their inter- national financial interests, and suc- ceeded, on the basis of their in- creasing direct and indirect over- seas income, in maintaining a rising total of profits in the midst of in- dustrial depression at home. But the gold standard is itself now in danger, as recent events have shown; and the maintenance, both financial- ly and strategically, of the whole imperialist fabric requires, not only the elementary method of the direct attack on the workers’ standards al- ready carried to an exteme point, but a more serious effort at reor- ganization, Third, the internal social situation has undergone an important devel- opment in the past five years. The victory over the General Strike, the temporary crushing of the workers’ resistance and triumphs of Mondism, and regimenting of the trade unions and Labor Party, have created the possibility and conditions for fur- ther capitalist rationalization as the i f which an increasing weight of bour- | geois policy is turning towards home industrial reconstruction. For this purpose, the policy of the Bald- | win government is no longer suit- able; and there are signs of the pre- | paration of a new government of a | Left-bloe type, either Liberal-Labor jor even a “Labor” government, to carry through the new phase and | conceal its true character from the | workers. Passing of Role of Baldwin Gov't The Baldwin Conservative govern- ment came into power in 1924 with a definite role to play. The experi- ment of the “Labor” government had failed to hold in the rising advance of the workers. A government of the “strong hand” was needed. The Baldwin Conservative government, representing the dominant big fi- nance-capital interests behind the policy of the gold standard, came |into power as a government of the aggressive and ruthless capitalist and imperialist offensive at home and abroad. During its five years of office it has abundantly carried through this role. At home, the preparation, provoking and crushing of the Gen- eral Strike of 1926 by war-methods of organization, and the following up of the victory by the Trade Union Act and similar measures to pa- ralyze the working class; abroad, the war on the Chinese Revolution, reaction and repression in India and Egypt, the break with the Soviet Union and ceaseless preparation of the economic and military bloc against the Soviet Union—these have been the dominant lines of its policy. But the very measure of success achieved has laid bare the final in- effectiveness of its policy, and pre- pared the conditions for a new stage. For, despite all its strategic victories, the Baldwin government has not been able to solve in any degree the economic crisis. Unem- ployment, which stood at 1,287,000 for the registered total in January, 1925, actually reached 1,435,000 in January, 1929 or an increase of nearly 12%. Under these conditions, dissatisfaction has markedly grown in bourgeois ranks with the relative inactivity of the Baldwin govern- ment in economic policy and recon- struction. Nor has the Conservative govern- ment any important positive eco- nomic policy to offer. Its remedies in relation to the problem of home industry are so far mainly confined to two directions: 1. “Re-rating,” or the releasing of industry from some £30,000,000 of local taxation—a flea- bite compared to the problem; 2. Tariffs, under the thin disguise of “safeguarding” these, however, can only be gradually extended owing to the pledge against protection, and in any case of only limited value owing to the relatively minor im- portance of the home market for the British basic industries. In addition, the financial policy of the Conservative government comes into conflict with important industrialist interests. The Conser- vative government, centering its pol- icy on the gold standard and its maintenance (which reflects especi- ally the interests of the city and the rentiers), is strongly suspicious of any large-scale schemes of ex- penditure or extended credits which might endanger its already precari- By Fred Ellis Jbank rate to 5.5%, necessitated by |the drain of gold to New York, has | dealt a further blow to industry; and the crisis is not yet solved. This hinders any rapid rationalization or | reconstruction. The international policy of the Conservative government also raises opposition from a section of bour- geois interests, particularly with ref- erence to the cutting off of the growing Soviet Union market to the benefit of the United States and Germany. Thus the Baldwin Conservative government is rapidly losing ground. Unless it is able to come out at the last moment with a strong and ef- fective program (its election pro- gram is still to be announced), it is likely to fall heavily at the elec- tion. Its main hope lies in the chances of the electoral system, and the mutual cancellation of Lib- eral and Labor votes, which may once more secure its return to power on a minority vote. The general election is taking place in the face of a gathering new wave of working class discontent and revival, It is in relation to this situation that the preparation of a] new Left bloc government takes on} special importance. The new trend has been brought | to the front by a series of important recent manifestations and documents —notably, the Balfour committee report, the Melchett-Turner report (“Mond” report), and the much boomed Lloyd George “pledge” and campaign. The Melchett-Turner Report of the | | big industrial and trade union | leaders in coalition, with the express japproval of the official leaders of the | Labor Party, calls for a policy of full-scale capitalist rationalization, and in particular demands a National Development Fund and liberal state credits to reorganize and reequip in- dustry. On this basis are visibly growing the preparations for some form of new Left Bloc (“Labor” Government or Labor-Liberal Government) to re- place the Baldwin Government and carry through a program of state- aided rationalization. The Labor and Liberal Parties are in the same posi- tion of being simultaneously rivals and allies in the endeavor to voice this demand and in the similarity of their programmes. Each accuses the other of “stealing” its pro- gramme. Up to the election the rivalry predominates. The future line depends on the results of the elections: if, as is probable, no party obtains an absolute majority, there are abundant signs of the likelihood of some form of Liberal-Labor Coali- tion, either openly, or, to begin with, as a “Labor” Government with Liberal supports To the special questions of the Labor and Liberal Parties and their programmes it will be necessary to return, The working class in Britain, as many signs show, is awakening from the reaction after the defeat of the General Strike and advancing to a new wave of struggles. It is the ob- ject of the bourgeoisie in this elec- tion to head off the gathering work- ing class advance and canalize it into safe channels of capitalist rational- ization and industrial peace thru— if necessary—a Labor Government or Labor-Liberal Government. The task of the Communist Party, which for the first time enters this election as an independent party on an independent revolutionary pro- gramme against all three capitalist parties, is to fight to expose this maneuvre, to express and lead the gathering wave of working class struggle, and to raise the banner of “Class Against Class” against all IBILL | took the witness stand and said that the I. W. W.’s | were the best workers that they had employed upon Copyright, 1929, by Internationad Publishers Co., Ine. , HAYWOOD'S BOOK Many Witnesses Testify In Defense at Chicago Trial; Dunne Tells of Murder of Little; Haywood Declares Against the War All sights resevved. Republica- tion forbidden except by permisston. Haywood’s story so far tells of his boyhood of toil and his life as a revolutionary worker from the time he read of the aging of the Hay- market martyrs through a serics of great strik nd organization struggles which included the Western Federation of Miners and the I. W. W. He led the W. F. M. in many battles, and helped to organize the I. W. W. When war broke out there was a serics of red raids, resulting in great sedition tri Haywood 1 placed on trial with a hundred other rebel wo 2» the great Chicago trial of the I. W. W. He tells of the unfair selection of the jury, the prosecution’s wi nesses, and the beginning of the defense by Attorney Vanderveer, Now read on: * * By WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD. PART 102 * EARING conclusion, Vanderveer said: “If patriotism means to wave flags from the housetops and then profiteer, then the I. W. W. is unpatriotic. If patriotism means that one must believe in war as the best way of settling things—that the wholesale slaughter of innocent people—is right, then again I say the I. W. W. for years has been in that sense unpatriotic; because the I. W. W. has not believed and does not believe in war.” Many witnesses has come to Chicago to testify on behalf of the I. W. W. We were able to prove that hundreds of members of the or- | ganization had fought forest fires and had saved the timber of Wash- ington, Idaho and Montana. There were farmers who their ranches. One of the victims who had been tarred and feathered at Tulsa, Oklahoma, told of the manner in which this deed was done by a patriotic mob. Miners who had escaped from the Speculator Mine at the time of the terrible underground fire in that property told of having climbed up 200 feet to another level where they went in and built a bulkhead of boards and planks, stuffing up the cracks with their clothes, where they stayed for 36 hours. They had but little air and no water, The defense began with James P. Thompson, an old-time organizer, a splendid specimen of manhood with mind as clear as a bell. His pice ture, painted by one of America’s artists, is now hung in the hall of thi Trish Workers in Dublin. ‘ Jim started his testimony with a reference to the report of the Industrial Relations Commission which had been barred out by Judge Landis. But Jim was permitted to use the report as he had testified before the Industrial Relations Commission. He concluded his evidence by sayin; ‘The very people who are abusing the I. W. W. today, if they had lived in the days of our fore- fathers would have been licking the boots of King George. They would have said of the boys fighting, barefooted in the snow at Valley Forge, ‘Look at them! They haven't got a shoe to their feet and they aré talk- ing about Liberty!’ The people who are knocking the I. W. W. are the same type who dragged William Lloyd Garrison through the streets of Boston with a Halter, who killed Lovejoy and threw his printing press into the Mississippi River; it is the same type who murdered Frank Little!” Nebeker rose to object, to be met with a hot rejoiner, “I do not mean to be personal,” said Thompson. “This is what I said in my lectures, but if the shoe fits—wear it.” A blackboard had been placed on an easel for the convenience of the jury. J. T. (Red) Doran used it to illustrate the lectures he was in the habit of delivering to the workers of Seattle and vicinity, * Eo] ILL DUNNE, an electrical worker, then editor of the Butte Bulletin, a testified to the lynching of Frank Little, the martyr of the Copper Trust. He mentioned the fact that Little was on crutches with a broken leg, that he was suffering from a double rupture which he got from be- ing manhandled by a mob in Wisconsin, that he had only one eye, and that the murderers who killed him had pinned on his body the death warrant of the Vigilance Committee—“3-7-77.” Dunne himself had received a similar notice, One after another of the defendants testified for themselves and the organization to which they belonged. There were the secretaries of the industrial unions, the editors of the English language papers, the monthly magazine, and the various foreign language papers. Among the last witnesses, I was called. Again I had to go over my life and work, my connection with the Western Federation of Miners, the launching of the Industrial Workers of the World, the aim and purpose of the organization. I was on the stand four days, heing directly examined by Vanderveer and cross-examined by Nebeker. Vanderveer read excerpts from Labor Disturbances in Colorado, the report of Carroll D, Wright’s investigation, written by Walter B. Palmer. When Vanderveer questioned me about the contents of that report, there were objections from Nebeker on the part of the govern- ment which were finally overruled by Judge Landis because of the fact that I had endorsed the report before it was printed. A truth that was noi developed was the fact that I had written the brief statement in the 1eport about the first convention of the Western Federation of Miners. When questioned about the World War, I replied: “Mr. Vanderveer, I don’t want the jury and I don’t want these defendants to get the idea that I am in favor of war. I am very much opposed to war, and would have the war stopped today if it were in my power to do it. I believe that there are other methods by which human beings should settle any existing difficulty. It is not only the murdering of the men, it is the suffering of the wives and children. And it is what this war means to society after this war is over. Somewhere in the files here is jotted down on a piece of paper what is meant by the aftermath of the war. Nothing for a hundred years but war, war, war. Nothing to follow but wer cripples, war widows, war orphans, war siories, war pictures and war everything. That is the terrible part of this war. I hope, if it be necessary, that every man that is imbued with the spirit of war will fight long enough to drive the spirit of hate and war out of his breast. That this may be the last war that the world will ever know.” Vanderveer asked me if I, with the other defendants, were con- spiring to interfere with the profits of certain people who were engaged in the manufacture of munitions supplies. I answered: “We are con- spiring. We are conspiring to prevent the making of profits on labor power in any industry. We are conspiring against the dividend makers, We are conspiring against rent and interest. We want to establish a new society, where people can live without profit, without dividends, without rent and without interest if it is possible; and it is possible, if people will live normally, live like human beings should live. I would say that if that is a conspiracy, we are conspiring.” ae, ean NEESER, the chief prosecutor, was a smooth individual, a slimy. creature, even more foxy than he tried to prove me to be. He ques- tioned me at great length about the literature of the organization, aNout the strikes of the iron and copper miners, lumber workers, my telegrams to the President and official relations with various members of the organization, While I was on the stand being cross-examined by Nebeker, Karm, the stool-pigeon, handed the prosecutor a pamphlet. It was As to Politics, by Daniel DeLeon. After Nebeker had looked over this pamph- let, he gave it to me saying that he would question me about it later, I had made some notes on the margins of the pages. When Nebeker asked me for it, I handed it back. He never questioned me about it further. When I was called to the witness stand the court room became suddenly crowded and a feelig of drama was in the air. Doubtless it was drama, to listen to the story of labor’s story for the past 30 years, For hours every one remained immovable. The jurors leaned forward to catch my words. Even the judge forgot the passing hovrs and the bailiff had to remind him that it was after the closing hour, * 28 @ Tan Next Haywood tells of the sentencing of the Chicago case defend ' ! three capitalist and imperialist parties, the Conservative, Liberal eastern te The Dati he ants to terms ranging from 10 days to 20 years, and how they received their sentences. Get a copy of Haywood's Book free with one yearly 5 N