The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 5, 1929, Page 6

Page Six DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1929 Baily BAS Worker 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 Square, New. rk City, N, ¥, Telephone Stuyvesant 1696-7-8 Cabli SUBSCRIPTION RATES: By Mail (in New York only): ” $4.80 six months $2.50 three months By Mail (outside of New York): $6.00 a year $3.50 six months $2.00 three months {} all checks to the Daily Worker, 26-28 (inion Squa Adéress and maf} all checks to the Datly W oe ‘DAIWORK.” * $3.00 a year No Illusions on Gastonia “HE change of venue which transferred the case of the T Gastonia prisoners from that city to the neighboring county seat of Charlotte, N. C., by no means indicates a de- sire on the part of the court to be “fair and impartial.” It is a move calculated to deceive the working class of the United States that has already, in large numbers, shown a deter- mination to fight against this attempt at legalized murder on the part of the lackeys of the Manville-Jenckes corporation The southern textile workers have shown that they will resist the stretch-out system, fight for a living wage and the eight-hour day. It is because the National Textile Workers Union is a coordinating force waging a drive that has already set in motion a tremendous movement that will embrace the 300,000 textile workers of the South that the national and local leaders of the union are today in the shadow of the electric chair. In preparing for the legal murder of these workers the business elements of Gastonia, lackeys of the mill owners, were mobilized into terrorist bands, with the ignor- ant and vicious Gastonia Gazette carrying on a campaign of incitement to lynching. Even lawyers for the defense were threatened with murder in the stores and streets of Gastonia. The whole murder setting was exposed to the working class by the revolutionary press and by the demonstrations under the leadership of the International Labor Defense. On the eve of the trial the Bessemer City Southern Tex- tile Conference was held and created machinery for leading the mass movement in one united drive for economic de- mands of the southern mill slaves. The change of venue was a gesture on the part of the court to try to create the illusion of “fairness, impartiality and justice,” to try to offset the effect of the working class demonstrations. All the deceptive talk of the prosecution that the case “is to be tried on its merits” and that “the social, political and religious views of the defendants are not on trial” is merely part of the attempt to arrest the move- ment of the working class to liberate the victims of the mill owners. For workers to succumb to such illusions is to yield to the wiles of the assassins and make certain in Charlotte the repetition on a large scale of the murders of Sacco and Vanzetti. There is one fundamental fact that must always be kept in mind in cases of trial of workers before capitalist courts. That is that the courts are part of the machinery of the capi- talist state. The state exists for one purpose only—to enable the ruling class to maintain its rule and impose its will by force and violence upon the working class. There is no such thing as an impartial capitalist court. The court that tries the Gastonia victims, whether it sits in Charlotte or else- where, is a part of the machinery of class suppression main- tained as part of the government of the country, and it will strive to stop the mass movement of the Southern mill workers by “making an example” of the Gastonia prisoners There is only one thing that will save the Gastonia vic- tims from legalized, judicial, class murder and that is the mass action of the working class of the United States and of the world. It is imperative, if these workers are to be granted their freedom, that the most determined, militant and aggressive campaign be carried on in their behalf. We have made it im- possible for the conspirators to perpetrate their crime against the working class in Gastonia. We must continue and in- tensify the drive and make it impossible for them to carry out their plot anywhere. The wisest publicity must be given this case. Not only must all workers in America be aroused, but the international working class must again, in larger numbers than in the Sacco and Vanzetti struggle, vent their fury against the murderous hirelings of American imperialism, the detestible Uncle Shylock of the world, the exploiter and butcher of the working class. % Tammany Clubs for Strikers; Praise for Fakers | HE Tammany Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roose- velt, sends a letter of congratulation to Benjamin Schle- singer, president of the International Ladies Garment Work- ers Union because of the success achieved in turning the or- ganization into a company union. A similar letter was sent to the heads of the various employers’ groups, in which he praised them and the “Jabor leaders” alike for establishing “peace in the industry,” a peace that places the workers atthe mercy of the bosses and stimulates the growth of the sweat-shop system. For workers, organizations that fight against the em- ployers and for decent conditions for the working class, Tam- many has only the most bitter hatred and uses police clubs, black-jacks, armored motorcycles, riot guns and other instru- ments of terror, besides maintaining a special gang of strike- breakers and scab herders known as the industrial squad. _ By praising Schlesinger and Company the Tammany governor places the seal of approval upon the Tammany- socialist party combination against the working class. Clubs and terror for strikers, bouquets and other laurels for the fakers who sell out labor is the labor policy of Tam- senv and its socialist allies. AGAINST IMPERIALIST WAR! IN DEFENSE OF THE SOVIET UNION! By Fred Ellis By LISTON M. OAK. The following report of the ar- guments that preceded the deci- sion of the court for change of venue in the Gastonia case was written before the ruling was made. It shows the nature of the evidence submitted by the two classes fighting each other thru the medium of this trial. It shows, too, the mill owners’ paper, | the Gastonia Gazette, and the workers’ paper, the Daily Worker, locking horns in the midst of the trial—Editor. as es: The defense *counsel yesterday in- troduced hundreds of copies of the Gastbnia Gazette to show examples of the stream of poisonous villifi- cation poured out from the editorial office of this organ of the mill own-| ers upon the heads of the defendants, This morning the defense pro- duced over a hundred affidavits showing the state of prejudice exist- ing in Gastonia among the property owners from whom the jurors will be drawn. These affidavits came largely from workers but there were many liberal, small business men whose customers are workers who made affidavits that a fair trial would be impossible in Gaston County. The defense attorneys themselves made affidavits to the effect that even attorneys engaged by the International Labor Defense are not safe in this town. Their lives have been threatened on _sev- eral occasions. Many citizens of Gastonia made affidavits that |friends of theirs who were in sym- \pathy with the defense had made statements to them that a fair trial is impossible but that they were afraid to sign their names to an af- |fidavit or to testify in court be- jcaure not only would their jobs or Manville-Jenckes vs. N.T.W.U. The Class Nature of the Gastonia Case Is Manifested in All Events on class lines,—tl.at the mill own- ers, the capitalists and the middle class whose prosperity is dependent upon the mills which control Gas- tonia, including the police and the courts are overwhelmingly of the opinion that the defendants “whether guilty or not are enemies of soeiety and it will be a service to Gastonia to electrocute them.” tronize are solidly back of the de- fendants, the N.T.W.U. and the ILL.D. In answer to these affidavits of the defense the prosecution pro- duced 67 affidavits stating that a fair trial was possible in Gastonia. |The social composition of these 67 | who were willing to sign the mimeo- graphed form widely circulated by On the other hand the workers|the Manville-Jencks’ attorneys was who form the overwhelming ma-|as follows: 12 real estate’ and in- jority of the population and the| surance men; 8 professionals, doc- small storekeepers whom they pa-|tors, lawyers, etc.; two public of- Working Girls By ABRAHAM WARSHOFSKY T see them every morning, these working girls— on the subway trains, and walking to the subway trains, with their lunches wrapped in newspaper or brown tissue paper, held under their arms— walking to work, and riding in the crowded subway trains ... I see them every morning— | crowds upon crowds of working girls, walking by twos and chatting, | or one by one, descending the stairs to the subway, |through the turnstiles, their businesses be jeopardized but| rushing into the human train— that their personal safety was at | stake. Witnesses Threatened. Affidavits were made by many |members of the union who were wit- jnesses of the shooting, stating that and told that if they dared to tes- |at some of them. There was an rie os which told about the planned attack on the W. I. R, tent colony last week which was frustrated by the prompt ac- tion of a committee of 200 workers | organized at a Rex mill meeting, | to guard the colony. | Tom Jimison made an affidavit | in wheih he told about the threat | that had been made to him that) any lawyer who dared to come to Gastonia to defend these damed | | bastards will never get out of town | alive. The owner of the property where | the tent colony stands made an af-| fidavit that he has been repeatedly threatened and attempts made to| intimidate him into driving the strikers from the property, Clean Class Lines | These affidavits show clearly that sentiment for and against the) strikers and union organizers who| jare changed wsth muundaw ia linided | tify “they would regret it to their | jdying day.” Stones have been thrown | | others are ugly and pimpled— | bury their faces in their newspapers; land lost... . | Every morning I see them— these working girls. ... some of them are pretty, healthy, they had been repeatedly threatened | laugh and sing as they walk through the streets or stand in the subway trains; while some are sickly, sad... . they stand in the crowded subway trains clutching at the straps with feeble hands, blinking at the dim electric lights with tear-drenched eyes .. faces tired.and empty— ‘ tired before the day has commenced. .. . O, Working girls— my heart, the heart of a worker, goes out to you as I watch you in the grey pall of morning, walking to your shops and offices and factories, walking and talking... x singing and weeping... feeble and afraid... hurrying to work in the grey pall of morning, ... |ficials; two salesmen; 40 business | |men, one wealthy farmer and two | workers who are called “bosses’ pets” by the union members. Read Daily Worker | The prosecution also read vol-| uminously from the files of the} “Daily Worker” evidently in an ef- fort to counter-balance the reading | yesterday by the defense counsel of the Gastonia Gazette. Thus the or- |gan of the Communist Party was very sharply and dramatically con- trasted, before a court-room jammed with workers, with the organ of the | Manville-Jencks Co. | It was the effort of Solicitor | Carpenter to show by reading the “Daily Worker” that “the Com- |munists themselves say that the| overwhelniing majority of the pop- | julation of Gastonia are sympathetic | with them, the union and the de- fendants—everybody except a few mill owners and big business men. If this is true then why cannot they | have a fair trial here?” | The obvious answer, of course, is |that the jury will not be drawn! |from the workers nor from sym-| |pathetic liberals but exclusively | from property owners who have | | been sounded out in advance to make | | sure that they are prejudiced. The| Labor Defender organ of the Na- tional office of the I’ L, D, and the Gastonia Labor Defense of the I. L. D. were both read in court by Soli- citor Carpenter while the court-room |full of workers listened with keen interest and evident approval of the articles read. During a »2cess in the morning hundreds of workers crowded up to the railing to greet the class war| prisoners and express their solidity | with them. Would Kill “Agitators” With each passing hour of the trial the atmosphere grows more tense as the opposing counsel both sharpen. their attacks and steel their determination: one to get rid of the “troublesome agitators” by electrocution or imprisonment and the other to defend these strikers and union organizers whose militant | fight on behalf of their class has brought down upon their heads the threat of capitalist “justice,” It has been obvious from the very beginning of the trial that the state- ment of the prosecution that this is an ordinary criminal case, not a controversy between capital and la- bor, not another Sacco-Vanzetti case, not a trial of Communism but erely an ordinary «murder trial, is a futile attempt to cover up and camouflage their determination to get rid of the Union leaders at all costs by whatever methods are necessary. They will attempt to preserve “respectability,” the illu- sion of impartial justice, But the real issues in this case will not down, The fact that this case.arose out of a capital and labor controversy that the fundamental rights of the workers are involved comes out persistently in every. speech made by either of the op- posin counsel. The prosecution would like to obseuré the issues, would like to lide the *act that! the rights of the workers to organ- ize, strike and defend themselves are involved, but this they cannot day a By FEODOR! Translated by A. S. Arthur and C. Ashleigh All Rights Reserved-—International Publishers, N. Y. * |), ese and Serge attended the Party-cleansing at the Factory THE PARTY CLEANSING. Group, Serge because he had been specially attached to it and Polia because she had been unable to attend the cleansing in her own group because of illness. - ‘ The Group meeting opened in the large hall of the club. A large number of people were present. Non-members of the Communist Party had been invited, and they filled rows and rows of seats. The Com- munists were in two front rows and the non-Party workers filled the rest of the hall. The mirrors around the room reflected the crowd in an infinite series, so that it appeared that there were thousands of people present. Actually there were one hundred and thirty. Gleb sat at the table in front of the stage. A chandelier of fifty electric lights flashed and sparkled with its crystal pendants and chains. The two members of the Special Commission were strangers. Both wore military coats and caps. One had prominent cheekbones and was so dark he was almost black; his brow, nose and chin were dotted with grey ‘warts. It was impossible to know whether he was smiling or in a rage. The other one was gaunt, with a pale face and a beard like a besom. He was constantly taking it between three fingers and pulling it. When he sat down he shrivelled up into the smallest possible com- pass, When he raised his eyes they disappeared under the half-closed lids. When he interrogated a Communist, summoned before him, he did not look at him, but spoke as though he were addressing someone else. He did not seem to look at the Party card belonging to the questioned person, which he would be pressing between his thin stiff fingers. . Sie heard a murmur behind him. “He’s a hard one, he is. He’ll grind us to hell. He’s going to take our pants down all right! And the other—did you see him? He purrs like a tiger!” And when the gaunt man called Gromada, Serge could not catch whether it was he who spoke or the man beside him. Again he heard a whisper behind. “Did you hear that, like a bloody ventriloquist! like an expert.” The whisperer choked with laughter. Gromada ‘came out of hte crowd and leaped up to the table like a hare, stretching out his nose towards the bony man. Again behind Serge came that sobbing laugh, and the voice could not resist shouting: “Blow your nose, Comrade Gromada; relieve yourself while you can!” Whether Gromada’s nose was running, or whether he was just scared, no one knew; but he put his finger to his nostril and gave a . . He'll skin us ~ whistling sniff. The hall rocked with laughter, and behind Serge a screeching laugh split the air. : Gleb was convulsed with laughter, his cheeks blown out like bel- lows. The pimples of the first member of the Commission were jump- ing up and down with merriment. Gleb struck the bell and raised his hand, “Order, Comrades! rades!” Be serious! This is a serious business, Com- ° TH gaunt member of the Commission was still deaf and immovable. He just pulled his beard with three fingers with a kind of milking motion. “Comrade Gromada—your autobiography?” “This is my autobiography, Comrade: a working proletarian, a poor working dog, ever since I was a little child. I need not discuss now how wonderfully we were exploited by the Capitalists. You your- self can see how consumption has got me by the chest, and so on, and so forth... .” And from behind a whisper: “Ah, he’s going it! He’s showing his teeth, the son of a bitch!” “When did you enter the Party?” “Under the new Soviet regime—making a year.” “And why didn’t you enter it before?” “What apprentice becomes a master before his time? Haven't you ever been an apprentice, Comrade? An apprentice has to go through the,mill, and so on, and so forth, - . .” “I’ve asked you why you entered the Party so late?” “I’m trying to tell you—. I was being danced around in the civil Everybody went off their heads in that time.” “Right you are, Gromada! Go on! They were all crazy then!” “Were you with the Red-Greens ?” “T wasn’t, Comrade, actually with them over the mountains, what you might call . . . but I went up to the mountains, daily, and so forth. . . . I wasn’t beyond, the mountains. . . . But I didn’t make life any sweeter for the White soldiers and the bandits. There was a gang of us with Dasha, putting the screws or them.” “So you were not with the Red-Greens. You preferred to stay at home and wait for good weather, eh?” eae war. . Cae sensed peril in the questions of this bony man. The ques- tions bristled with spite and facts. This gaunt man was getting all round him with his obstinate questions, and in every word there lay hidden a serpent which was stinging him painfully but invisibly. When Gromada felt this, he suddenly became still and hatred flashed in his eyes. Perhaps the thin man noticed it or he was tired of Groma- da. He scribbled something with a pencil and waved him away. “You may go. Does anyone want to say anything regarding Com- rade Gromada?” “Gromada? points and win!” “Next—Comrade Savchuk!” The crowd stirred, whispered and began to laugh. Savchuk, in a long coarse linen blouse without a belt, hairy, in torn trousers and barefooted, walked up, jostling and elbowing the people as they looked wonderingly at him and grasped him by the shirt. “Heh, you damned cooper! Be careful there!” Savchuk stood morose before the table and, holding his fists apart, began to nod his woolly head. “Eh, you, Comrade Cleanser, don’t trouble me about my life biography!” “Why? It is necessary; all our examinations are based on it.” “Don’t poke into my rotten life. You've got no interest in it. Phew, enough! I’m a cooper—make barrels. Just now I’m not work- ing at that, because the coopers’ workshop at the factory is a muck- heap. But if Gleb—this bastard here—will only shift himself for all ke’s worth, the saws will begin to hum, and then we'll get some new barrels.” “You have written here that you’ve beaten someone on the head lately and that you'll land someone else. Whose head have you beaten and about whom are you speaking?” - » * Oh, Gromada’s a trump. He'll give anyone forty Ay Rte te face was swollen and the veins on his byow and neck were thick like twisted cords. He stuck his fists further out and his eyes were filled with laughter and anger. Everyone opened their ears. They were hoping that Savchuk would explode with all his force and that there would be an uproar and some fun. Everyone knew how Savchuk burst out with words like dynamite—straight out, without - thinking of consequences. A hoarse laugh rolled in his throat, but did not rise to his hairy face. The rush of blood to his head made it jerk rhythmically. “I have smashed these dirty bastards and will go on trying to smash them—the villains! Just new masters and bourgeoisie—gapers and wasters. . . . Over on those seats there are sitting mechanics with whom I’ve had to fight too. . . . They were driving me crazy with their pipe-lighters, which was all that interested them. There’s more than one devil, we must fight him everywhere! Under the old regime, they used to sit in automobiles, showing off! And now they’re showing off in the same way, hitting our brothers... .” “Who is hitting our Comrades of the Party and the Soviets? Speak more concretely.” ‘ ‘ Someone in the back rows was :gabbling and hiccupping, then shouted in uncontrollable joy: 7 “Eh, Savchuk! Let them know about it! snuffling crowd! Show them up.” Again the hall broke out into laughter, which gradually died down into the stillness which awaits something sensational. Just one last voice, from the back rows again, a voice broken with a cough, bellowing loud: “Give him one on the jaw, the damn fool! stuff our heads with anyway?” . (To Le Continued) To hell with all that