The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 2, 1929, Page 2

DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1929 the scattered nished two the policy lestroyed. of Amer e Workers rth Union held i Caroline — in ing rid of the mas > the unions du 1 the tremendous basic befor the ra the agents while imination of s es are happened? leadership turned black past? Y a new attempt low pa work whelmin, ern working c of L. the huge c! d to the left,” to use the combined ch 2 of the Brandlerites? Is the dustry — the . of L. officialdom, including its | in the ¢ opposition, who are best en- the textile indu As in the orth F. of L. unions consi: where the A.| t of the more | rs specially building F. of dation apitalism. stry the sed to be shortly after Jacksonville oric events in an labor were come of the official policy un-| ng the ion which took place | indus- was recon- of the It became more the outpost ks of the leadership func- at- influence so role of be- maximum effect, to pre- t mass struggles, to of the Amer- rganized and at and the goy-} s the undeniable of L. — espe- tile Workers | in the textile ly mechanized and long hours — ra- at its peak — that the! taking 2 environment ally finds A. F. of Has the Has it leaf, as some ink,—or did think? Has | leadership been red in the U, T. W., actually y a Gilbertian “hardly ever.” Pre- because the burden of capi- talist rationalization weighs so heavily upon the Southern workers that they are forced actively into the class struggle, and because of the entire lack of trade union ex-j perience among hundreds of thou- sands of them, the utterly f: pre’ st ense of the A. F. of L. leader- ship can fool them for a time, (as in Elizabethton, Tenn.) with dis- astrous consequences, and makes the exposure of these bellwethers of imperialism a major task of the | Communists. Muste, Hoffman, McMahon and Company, ably aided by preachers jand pacifists of the socialist party, and liberals of varying shades, have been able to a certain extent, be- cause of the huge reservoir of work- ing class misery and militancy in the Southern textile industry, to appear as “honest trade unionists,” acquir me influence and prestige among sections of lowpaid workers, id pose as champions of the work- ing class in districts where strikes develop spontaneously. The Southern textile capitalists do not want ANY unions, reformist or revolutionary. Like the new Southern working class, the new capitalism of the South is—or was —inexperienced in “labor troubles.” In Elizabethton, Tenn. Shoals, S. C, it allowed its retinue of middle class hangerseon to stage “unofficial” deportations and other displays of violence of and against A. F, of L. leaders, while at the in- of generous numbers of troops to over- awe the workers. ignorant at first that the A. F. of L. leadership came South bearing a flag of truce, ready to hoist the ensign of surrender and: prepared at the first opportunity to dye their white emblems black with the classic color of betrayal. Today it knows better. In recent weeks, under the pres- sure of the struggle centering around the battle in the Gastonia area where the class struggle shows clearly even through the heavy fog of intensive lying about “American ll, its ist press, the clever young men of and Ware | same time its state governors sent | The Southern capitalist class was | Never—and a “never” which is! gle, accompanied by field experience | tempt to unioni the categorical and not to be qualified |in the numerous strik jouth , and armed the L ional confliets such as those headquarters of the ‘ex- tile Workers Union on June 7, no- ticeable in the columns of the Gas- jtonia Gazette. Much of its earlier erudity has vanished, The G stonia Gazette, together with many other organs of capital | ism in the two Carolinas, has be- gun to learn the value of the vices of the A. F. of L. bureauc and social reformists of the type of Muste and Hoffman and others who | dominate the United Textile jers union, to American and to estimate the poss’ utilizing them to stem the tide of working class revolt sweeping through the South. | The Gazette, however, bearing the brand of Manville-Jenckes—the biggest cotton mill company in ton county, “the combed yarn center of the South,” confined itself prin- \eipally to denouncing the National 7as- Textile Workers Union and the Communists. Its support of the A. F. of L. and its offspring, tne UTW, is more implied than open. But the Charlotte Observer, pub- lished in the city which shares with Winston-Salem the honor of being one of the two largest in North Carolina, has made up its editorial mind and speaks right out. In its issue of July 18 it says: “The American Federation of Labor is initating a movement to organize the industrial labor of ;the South, aided in this under- | taking as an agency in rescuing Southern industrial labor from the influence of the Communists, whose operations in the South have brought their class into dis- repute. “As a matter of course, if South- ern labor is to be organized, it is infinitely to be preferred that this | | organization should be accomplished by the acknowledgedly long-time enemy of Communism, which is the American Federation of Labor, the particular object of hatred by the | Communist organization.” Referring to the recent Connecti- eut conference of governors and the question of the organization of the Southern workers which was raised jattitude of Governor Gardner of The American Federation of Labor Leadership in the “New South” tile worke The Observer then continues: “Meantime, the Southern mill men might as well prepare for the union-| nerous conditions. izing movement, for the Federation | peaceful community. g on a determined cam-| their employees who. work in the issembarl.cd paign.” Our premise above, that the mill confirmed, in spite of its compli- mentary references to the A. F. of L,, by its concluding remar' his organization movement can be best met by the mill men, themselves, in adjusting working | conditions ni a way that would forestall any cause for the union- izing forces. In large number of cases, the mill conditions are es+ tablished on a basis that could not be improved b: sort of union- izing but there are cases that in- vite readjustment.... As situation stands, the better class of cotton mills are likely to suffer for the delinquency of some mills | against which complaint can be properly lodged. If delinquent | mills could be moved up into the class of the standard Southern cotton mill, the labor problem in the South would have been solved to complete elimination of the agitator.” It will be seen from the above|of the proletariat in Elizabethton, | ‘cheap and docile” labor that Pres- the | barons do not want ANY unions, is | the Southern tex-) tivities in Elizabethton and the sit- uation there: “The strike developed in Eliza- bethton over the imposition of It is a They gather mills from the mountains of east- ern Tennessee. .. . They are pure American stock, and of cdurse the opportunity to work in those ray- on mills was broadening and it was an enlarged opportunity for this class of people... . But be- cause of the workers’ docile na- ture, the owners and managers of those mills pursued a certain policy until it reached the ploint where the last straw, figuratively speaking, broke the camel’s back; and without order, without leader- ship even, without help from us, they shutedown those mills, and then . . . appealed to the Ameri- can Federation of Labor.” (Em- phesis mine.) President Green admits here that the A. F. of L. leaders had taken no steps to give leadership to these exploitel workers in a basic in- dustry, The A. F of L. leadership waited until it could no longer avoid |making a gesture of struggle in order to save its face. But true to its social reformist character it went not to aid the new squadrons extracts that the mill owners’ press | but to betray them. —at least the most conscious sec-| tion of it—is emphasizing three taining the solid senatorial. repre- |points: (1) That some measure of| sentatives of the Southern capital- Listen to President Green enter- organization in the Southern mills | ists with his detailed recital of how is more or less inevitable. (2) That | the Elizabethton workers were by some form of company unionism | handed the doublecross: combined with welfare work and perhaps some slight concessions to |the workers, any form of — trade {unionism may be avoided and “agi- tators kept out. (3) That if “out- side” organization cannot be pre- “I directed one of my trusted representatives to go there, and Mr. McMahon, representing the United Textile Workers, directed | his representatives to go there vented it is better by far to make| a deal with the American Federa-| tion of Labor and its affiliated unions as an alternative to the or- ganization of militant unions with Communists taking a leading part. | The A. F. of L. leadership, fully conscious of its role as the defender |of capitalism in the ranks of the |masses, is taking as complete an advantage of this situation as its democracy” created by the capital-| there, The Observer sums up the/fear of the militancy the Southern! {workers will allow it to. At tne the millowners’ personnel service, {North Carolina and Governor Rich- | sessions of the U. S. Senate com- and editors, have been doing some | ards of South Carolina as expressed | mittee on manufactures, which were cramming on the labor movement.|in a statement that they would| attended by Senators from low wage g and leading mass strug-| Especially are the results of this| ‘neither hinder nor help the Amer-|Southern states, President Green | academic course in the class strug-|ican Federation of Labor in its at-|thus described the A. F. of L. ac- and exercise every effort at their cofhmand to establish COOPERA- TIVE RELATIONS AND _IN- DUSTRIAL PEACE, “They had splendid meetings WITH SOME MEMBERS OF THE CHAMBER OF COM- MERCE, BUSINESS ORGANI- ZATIONS, AND REPRESENTA- TIVES OF THE “ILLS, AND BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD A SATISFACTORY SETTLE- MENT. ... (Emphasis mine.— It should be said here that the Elizabethton workers, who had not been consulted about the “sat- isfactory settlement,” went on strike again—a tribute to the mil- itancy of the Southern workers which the A. F. of L. leadership | is trying to turn into the poison- 3 Is of “cooperative rela- with the $50,000,000 mer- | in the rayon section of the | xtile industry.) | These “splendid meetings” with “some members of the Chamber of Commerce,” referred to by President Green, deserve some special atten- tion in the form of a further quota- tion from the minutes of the senate committee on manufacures. Miss Margaret Bowen, a worker in the Elizabethton mills, is*testifying: “These companies would have | paid more and they started out paying more at the beginning, | but the chamber of commerce of | Elizabethton said, ‘What is the | need; you can get cheap labor for | $8 and $10 per week,’ and so therefore they decided if they could get it they would not pay | any more than what they really had to pay.” (Emphasis mine.) The Chairman—How do you | know that? | | Miss Bowen—Through _ their own statements. | | Senator Wheeler—Do you mean the statements of the members of | the chamber of commerce? | Miss Bowen—Yes, s It was with these salesmen of} ident Green’s “trusted representa- |tive” made a “satisfactory settle- | ment.” | President MeMahon of the United | Textile Workers also contributed his | | mite to the doctrine of “satisfactory | settlement” at the expense of the| textile workers. The following is} an excrept from his concluding re- marks to the senate committee: | “I wish to say that without | | prejudice, it is our desire to see | industry successful in all parts of the country. There is no thought in our mind that Northern manu- facturers should succeed at the cost or sacrifice of both the South- | ern manufacturers and Southern cperators. Our organization stands for equality for all. Equality for all—workers living lat the starvation level—millionaire tertile mill owners, Is it any wonder that the mill jbarons and their press had little |diffieulty in deciding that the pol- icies, tactics and leadership of the |A. F. of L. and the UTW could be very useful in putting down the revolts of the underpaid workers? But although the capitalists and their press do not hesitate one mo- ment in making a choice between the A. F. of L, and militant unions such a sthe NTWU, it has seen that the A. F. of L. leadership is not always successful in its attempts to suppress the will to struggle which is so evident among the Southern s. There is Elizabethton, for ance, where the workers only llenly accepted this leadership for a time but are by no means under its political and organizational con- trol. Then there is Marion, N. C., where the “docile nature” of the mill work- ers unde rthe leadership of the UTW, in this little community did not pre- vent them from picketing the mill in mass formation and forcibly stop- ping the entrance of scabs. In the |course of the struggle the owned of the mill was injured. seventeen strikers are charged with “con- spiracy to commit assault.” In Ware Shoals, where the UTW also had a small local union, the workers carried on mass picketing until the soldiers sent by Governor Richards stopped it. The UTW capitulated and called off the strike. (To be continued.) Crowds of Unemployed Workers Storm Plant Of Ford in Hamilton By a Worker Correspondent) HAMILTON, Ohio (By Mail). — Every morning a large crowd of ‘kers and ex-farmers and farm boys from Kentucky tries to get “happiness” by having Henry Ford become ‘their master at the Hamil- ton plant of the Ford Company. The employment agent chooses all the husky looking married men for vacancies since they are strong- r and have got to be docile be- cause they have to support a wife and family. Many really believe it is done be- cause Ford is sorry for the mar- ried men, Kentucky men are Ford’s choice because they are more docile, com- ing from the farms, and unacquaint- ed with the slavery in the Ford plants, they are eager to work for $5 a day after the even more mis- erable wages they have been re- ceiving in Kentucky. ie —CORRESPONDENT. Build shop committees and draw the more militant members into the Communist Party. aily One month ago, June 21, The Daify Worker did not appear for lack of funds. This was the first time that this suspension occurred since the founding of The Daily Worker five and one-half years ago. We resumed publication the next day. A few com- rades and friends in New York pooled their resources to save the Daily, and give it a chance to appeal to the readers and loyal supporters. The campaign for funds is now five weeks old, and yet the Daily is in the same precarious condition it has been in at the beginning. The money coming in is too slow to cover the deficit, and give the Daily a breathing spell. Ten thousand dollars has been collected, when at least $1,000 per day is needed to pull the Daily out of its present crisis. Will the Daily get this money? The next few weeks will decide the fate of the Daily. 1.—Read the Daily. 2.—Buy a copy for a friend or shopmate. 3.—Get a bundle for distribution. 4.—Insist that your standkeeper carries the Daily. 5.—Insist that he displays it. 6.—Buy a copy to start off the standkeeper’s sales, “I SAW IT MYSELF” The readers will have to decide—— Shall the Daily live—or shall it suspend? Shall the Daily suSspend—with the danger of war looming in the immediate present? Shall the Daily suspend—in the face of the at- tempt to railroad 15 workers in Gastonia to the elec- trie chair? Shall the Daily suspend—at a time when the workers are facing ever increasing attacks by the bosses, their police and gunmen, and their Right Wing Allies? UPON YOU DEVOLVES THE ANSWER. Publication ef the paper means increasing sacri- fices on the part of all members and sympathizers of the Party and Daily. The minimum of one day’s Wage for members of the Party and substantial contribution at least equiva- lent to a day’s wage must be forwarded immediately. READ THE SERIAL The next few days are crucial. The next few days will settle the fate of the Daily. WILL YOU ANSWER? Do not wait for another suspension. Enclose your New York, N. Y. duce the huge deficit. We have a number of ways for increasi lation, which are enumerated below. The Sustaining Fund must be established imme- check or money order immediately. Wire it or rush by air mail to THE DAILY WORKER, 26 Union Square, a The Daily must increase its circulation to reach ever wider circles of workers. A large circulation will re- q the circu- { diately. Our readers and friends should not only send By HENRY BARBUSSE.—Author of ‘Under Fire,’ ‘Chains,’ and Other Great Novels. This brilliant novel has been tabooed by the ruling It is a story of white terror and workers persecu- tion that is full of harrowing details. The Daily Worker is present this story to its fortunate in being able to readers for the first time. class press the world over. known. In America it is hardly WILL THE DAILY SURVIVE? their immediate contribution, but pledge themselves to give a definite sum monthly or weekly. This will help the Daily avoid such crises as now exist. SUSTAINING FUND 1.—Pledge monthly, yourself to send in contributions weekly or 2.—Send it the first of the month regularly. 3.—Get your union or organiza- tion to contribute regularly. same, 4.—Get a co-worker to do the