The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 19, 1929, Page 4

Daily's n of the SUBSCRIPTION RATES: y Mai! (in New York only): $8.00 a year; $4.50 six months; y Mail (outside of New York): $6.00 a year; $3.50 six months; OF BREAD Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., daily, except Sunday, at 26-28 Union Square, New York City y. Telephone uyvesant 1 8. Cable: “DAIWORK.” Addrers and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 26-28 L Square, New York, 2.50 three months Four $2.00 three months Communi | “THE ROOSTER Cr. OF A New Phase in the Struggle) for Philippine Independence By Fred Ellis || TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN The proposal and defeat of the “King Amendment” to the Tariff Bill in the United States ate on Oct. 9, which amendment proposed Reprinted, by permission, from “The City of Bread” by Alexander to grant independence to the people of the Philippine Islands, repre- | Neweroff, published and copyrighted by Doubleday—Doran, New York. sents one of the advances of American imperialism to fortify its domin- | ation over the Filipino people by compelling the Filipino bourgeoisie | and great landholders to cast aside the last shred of pretense that they | desire independent of the Philippines from the United States, to cajole | them with profits wrung from the ‘sweat and blood of the toiling | masses of the Philippines into not only ceasing the struggle for inde- | pendence, but to come out as vigorous opponents of it. Phis maneuver in the Senate, occ pying six and a half hours of shameless horse-play with the aspir a climax in the pressure of the Americ ruption to win the Philippine bourge perialsm, to obtain its utter servilit it as a despicable and t on of 12,000,000 people, comes as n imperialis by guile and cor- je to the side of American im- perialist interests and to use in opposition to the toiling masses of the Philippines. And it must be clearly ood that the maneuver has been successful. The Philippine bour no longer desires Philippine in¢ dependence, but on the contrary is opposed to independence, has be- trayed the Philippine workers and peasants who mistakenly looked to the “Nacior ” and “Democrata” capitalist parties to struggle for national independence. We are no longer in that period (16th of July, 1926) when it was possible for the Philippine legislature by unanimous vote to flaunt in the face of Coolidge’s personal representative, Colonel Thompson: . the constant and intense desire of the Fi for immediate, absolute and complete independence.’ ino people The Filipino bourgeoisie and big landlords, which American imperialism had created the Philippine legislature as a futile and mis- erable toy intended to divert the mass demand for genuine self goy- ernment and to cater to personal ambitions of bourgeois politicians for place and pelf, received the blunt answer of American imperialism when President Coolidge on April 6, 1927, flatly r ed, by veto, the measure which the Legislature passed over the veto of Governor General Wood, providing for a plebiscite on whether or not the Filipino electorate de- sired Philippine independence. for To make the Philippine bourgeoisi States launched a campaign, the imme e success of which was seen by the willing surrender of Quezon, Roxas, Osmena & Co., in 1928, to the Wall Street bankers who tempted (with the crumbs from their banquet tables) these venal spokesmen for native exploiters, first to “modify” and then to renounce all ideas of independence. With the regime of Stimson, who had come from a successful subjugation of e eat its own words, the United Nicaragua, by bribery and blood, American imperialism progressed so | far that when Stimson was returning through Japan to America to | clai mhis reward as secretary of state under Hoover, he declared that his imperialist mission, as Governor General of the Philippines, was so successful that no Filipino politician now even talks of independence. This “wonder” was accomplished by American imperialism holding out to the Filipino bourgeoisie the offer of a “share’—though a scanty and shameful share—of the profits to be extracted from the Filipino workers and peasants by “economic development,” which was and is falsely put forward to delude these masses as a “basis for political in- dependence.” This “economic development,” of course, is to be realized by American capital, and far from making Philippine economy inde- pendent of American imperialist economy, only binds it closer as an integra] and dependent part of the imperialist economy of the United States. With this bribe to the Philippine bourgeoisie in one hand, with the other fist the American imperialists menace the Philippine exploiters of their people with the threat of tariff charges on Philippine products entering the United States if independence “granted”—a “grant” which imperialism has not the least intention to make. Thus comes the farce staged in the U. S. Congress, when by threat- ening the Filipino bourgeoisie with a tariff, the Philippine “Resident Commissioners” who are allowei to beg at the back door of the White House for favors to the native exploiting classes, are reduced to the pitiful state of frantic beggars that a tariff be not placed on Philippine products because—they admit in abject surrender—the Philippines are a part of the United States. With this brazenly staged maneuver of threatening the Filipinos with independence, as proposed in the Senate October 9, by the “pro- gressive” imperialist elements, American imperialism compels the Philippine bourgeosie to come out openly and irrevocably before the Filipino toiling masses as complete traitors, as the most venal and self-seeking demagogs and misleaders of the Filipino people, who can not only no longer be trusted to struggle for independence, but must be considered and treated as the most unprincipled enemies of and traitors to the cause of independence. From this deyelopment, since July 16, 1926, the toiling masses of workers and peasants of the Philippines must draw a lesson: The prospect held out of political independence through “economic development” is a lie and a delusion; the Philippine capitalist and landlord class has sold itself to American imperialism and is an enemy of the workers and peasants, of all the exploited toilers of the Philip- pines; that only the proletariat in close alliance with the peasant masses can lead the struggle for national independence and this al- Tiance can be effective only when joined in united struggle with the revolutionary workers of the United States, in fraternal relations with the emancipated workers and peasants of the Soviet Union and the rebellious exploited and oppressed masses of other colonial and semi- colonial countries. The Communist Party of the United States welcomes the many recent evidences given by the workers and peasants of the Philippines of a comprehension of their historic tasks, and in the name of the revolutionary proletariat of the United States, pledges its support to the toiling masses of the Philippines in sweeping aside all exploiters and oppressors, in driving American imperialists and their native serv- ants into the sea and in establishing their own free and independent rule—a Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of the Philippines. USSR Workers Given Largesi Part arte The worker of the Soviet Union] ers, and thru the five year plan the receives more than twice as large | present wagve and living standards a percentage of what he produces | will be increased tremendously; also in the form of wages as American | social insurance such as unemploy- workers. The worker of the Soviet | ment funds, old age pension, pay Union gets wages equal to more than | during illness and free medical at- half of the value he produces, while tention, rest homes, free nurseries, the American worker gets about one | education, etc., which must be paid OW India is at present the area of|tha tthe Indian worker is well fed. | powerful class struggle. The Indian proletariat, which had for many years resigned itself to the exploita- tion by the united forces of British Imperialism and native bourgeoisie, has now entered into a stubborn struggle with capital for the im- provement of its conditions. The Indian proletariat numbers from 3,700,00 to 4,000,000 industrial workers, including railwaymen, dockers, the coal transport workers an dthe plantational workers. Apart from this, there are over 21 millions | agricultural 2% house servants, four million commer- cial employees and four million em- |ployees of various institutions. workers, million the Indian Worker Lives Rice and meal in the morning, rice | or bread and vegetables at noon, rice and vegetables in the evening—this | is the Bombay textile workers’ fixed menu. on Sundays. It is therefore not sur- prising that the average weight of a textile worker is only 99 ‘Ibs. It is significant that the average length of life in India has decreased from 32 years in 1870 to 22 years in 1921, where in England (Wales) it is 46 yea The wretchedness of the Indian workers becomes especially evident when compared with those of Euro- pean workers, For instance, the Bombay textile workers are paid 10s. | 9d. per week, while an English simi- larly skilled worker receives 37s, 5d. Similar proportions are to be ob- served in other industri The fundamental branch of the In- | dian industry—the textile industry (cotton and jute) has the largest \number of workers. Next come the | mining industry and the metallurgi- cal. A very great number of work- ers are engaged in the plantations (over 800,000 workers) and on the railway transport (over 800,000 workers), The vast majority of workers in India receive insignificant wages, | which cannot satisfy even the most | primitive demands. The average | wage of workers in all branches of However, even this miserable wage |does not reach the workers’ pocket intact. First of all, considerable sums are deducted every month as fines, which in India amounts to 8-10 per cent of the total wages. The factory owners fine the workers at the silghtest pretex: for lateness, for the merest spoilage of production, for disrespectful conduct, ete. A great proportion of the workers’ wages go towards paying interest to usurers, Many reasons compel the workers to borrow money. First of allhe Indian workers is often con- |nected to some degree or other with | his village and a small plot of land. |He is obliged to send money home es AON (Continued) hee ee ERIOSHKA snuffed in an injured manner, then rubbed his eyes with his fist. “Oh, all right, don’t cry, I’ mnot mad. Only don’t act that way again. Did you sleep?” rr “Pm hungry.” ‘ See ee Mishka was hungry too. He licked his lips with his tongue an® thought: “T’ll have him around my neck now all the time.” Aloud he said: “How silly you are, Serioshka, no patience at all! Where am I going to get bread from now? When we get to Tashkent then we'll eat all we want. If you don’t get enough, I’ll give you some of mine, Think I’d care!” In his sack he still has a piece of grass bread from home: he wanted to keep it secret. He felt sorry for his comrade, still he did not want to injure himself. He, Mishka, was doing all the worrying, he must eat more too. He remembered the agreement to share everythink equally and was indignant. The pact bound him hand and foot—it would have been better if he had not made any. He drew out the small piece of bread and reluctantly broke off a bit. “Here, you can give it back to me later. That’s two pieces you’ve had from me. Where’s your sack and your sandals?” “They got left over there...” al “Idiot! Where are you gonig to put your bread now?” Serioshka turned away. “I’m not going to Tashkent.” “Why not?” “It’s too far.” “And how will you get home?” “Tl get along a little at a time.” The workers eat meat only | ing numerous one-roomed flats. Dr,|ers of the British labor movement, Barnes, who in 1922 investigated the | Johnston, Syme, and others, who in housing conditions of the Bombay | 1925 conducted an investigation of women workers, discovered cases of |the labor condiions of the Indian six families living together in a sin- | workers, declare that they came} gle room, 15 s~-are feet in area. | across cases in several mills in Bom- |bay and Calcutta, of 24 hours con- The livng quarters supplied by the tinuous work. They likewise declare employers to the Bengal miners are /that child labor is in India most deficient of the most elementary | widely practiced, and that young necessities—they have not even any |persons under 18 are not included windows, not to speak of ventilation. |in the official registers, but are en- The houses have no avatories. And tered in special secret lists which are jin such inconceivably heavy condi-|hidden from the factory inspector, | | tions do the Indian women rear and |The majority of enterprises openly | “Go ahead then, if you’re not afraid. I don’t care for such com- rades, always wanting to go back. First you want to go, then you don’t want to go...” For a long time there was silence. Some one, hidden by the smoke, cried out in his sleep: “It’s, gone! It’s gone! Our train is gone!” Near then a mujik, with an immense shock of matted hair, got up, saying: “We'll all die! Before Mishka’s eyes rose the city of Tashkent, the never-seen, and two stacks stuffed full of bread; in the other, black. In the third sack, a little one, grain—ten pounds of it. That was for seed. And My legs have begun to swell.” |industry varies between 20 and 30 |fo rthe payment of the heavy taxes | rupees per month (I rupee equals|and leases. Apart from this, the |1s. 6d.). Men employed in the tex- | Workers in he cities have to pay rent \tie industry in Bombay receive 33 |® month in advance. Wages are in- eed |aceurately paid in the factories, in rupees per month, while women and |ihe majority of cases siti weeks after children receive 16 rupees per month, | hiring—in order to keep the worker |The wages of a male coal miner in jat the factories. We may not like- the Djari coal mines amount o 5/ | Wise pass by the fact that the only i 4, way of obtaining employment in a per week, while women coal miners | ill or in a port is by paying large earn 3s, per week, As regards the | bribes to the foreman or to the con- wages of the most exploited cate-|tractors’ agent. Bribes are also \gory of labor—the plantation labor- | systematically paid to the overseers jers—they are absolutely ridiculous. ker hiring. Workers refusing to pay ribes undergo prosecution, and are often fired. All these circumstances force the Indian workers to borrow from money-lenders paying them in- Furtwingler, a member of the In- | ternational Textile Workers’ Fed- \eration, which visited India in 1927, fifth. These figures are given, indirect- ly, in an article by Julius Klein in| the Oct. 19 issue of the Magaznie of | | by the workers in the United tSates jand other capitalist countries from their wages. Italians Mosi Exploited. Wall Street. Wishing to convey| Italy was shown, in the figures these statistics to the capitalists quated by Klein, to have the most without making them intelligible for intense exploitation of labor found workers, Klein gives average wages anywhere in the world, though the per week and the amount produced | percentage received by Italian work- by workers per year in various coun- ers is only slightly less than the tries. Also, he makes no mention of | American workers get. the high cost of living which mater-| Because of speed-up, long working ially reduces the relative wage of |hours, and the most efficient meth- American workers as compared to | ods of machine production, the aver- those of other nations. lage value of commodities produced Advantages of Soviet Workers. (by the American worker is $5,192. Another important factor is that|While Klein gives an “average” the workers of the Soviet Union not | wage of $30.72 a week, this figure only get more than half of the value |is obtained by including the most produced in the form of wages as |highly skilled technicians and fore- compared to one fifth in the United | men. States, but they actually get all of Klein admits that the wages of it directly or indirectly. The part wrokers in many countries are being not given in wages in the Soviet reduced t ise of “the pressure of Union is used in building new fac-|tightening international competi- tories in the interests of the mee tion.” | states tha tthe wages of coolies on the Indian .plantations have not {changed for the last 70 years. The | wages of the coolie in 1860 was 5 lrupees per month. maiiimum wages of a coolie on the | Assam tea plantation did not exceed \7 rupees per month. It should be | remarked in his connection that the price of rice—the coolies’ only article of food—has more than doubled dur- ing this period. The coolie spends practically the last pie of his month- ly wages on his rice. His clothes— or rather, the rags worn by the In- dian coolie—occupy but an insignifi- cant position in his budget. In 1922, the Even skilled workers just manage to make both ends meet. About 70 per cent of his wages are spent upon food, 12 per cent on rent. His cul- tural needs are enirely unsatisfied. | The large proportion of wages spent jupon food does not, of course, prove ters at the rate of 7s., 150 per cent jper annum. The Indian worker is lindebted on the average to the jamount of 2% months pay. Women {and children, as the more backward {and forgotten workers serve as ob- jects of special merciless and shame- less exploitation, both by the em- ployers and by the numerous agents, overseers, etc, The housing conditions of the In- jdian workers are also horrible. Fifty- three per cent of the single work- ers in Bombay are altogether home- less. “They usually sleep on the streets, squares, the verandahs or corridors,” says Burnett Hurst, au- thor of “Labor and Housing Condi- tions in Bombay.” Married work- ers live in huts put together from jthe most original materials: petrol ins, or dried palm leaves. Rents are very high. According to the Gov- lernment investigation of 1922, the {rent for one room is 5s, per month, Many married workers live in bar- racks, enormou bsuildings contain- bring up their children. True, babies are sometimes born in the streets or in the factories during work. Many worker-mothers are forced to bring their children along to the factories, as owing to the absence of nursing facilities they cannot leave them behind. The women hide the baskets containing heir children in corners of the factory, and very often tie them to the machines. Suckling babies spend the whole day in the factories under the rattle and roar of the machine, in the factory dust. Accidents to them are com- mon. It is therefore not surprising that cihld mortality has reached a terrible level in India. Between 572 |and 828 babies out of every 1,000 births in Bombay die in their first |year of life. (In England not more |than 172 die per thousand). The reasons for suc ha high mortality \are intelligible. Dr. Burns says that |over 98 per cent of the children of | industrial workers are given opium |to keep them asleep while their |mothers are at work, The percentage of illiterate work- ‘ers is very great. Only 5 per cent of the industrial workers can write their names. As a rule, workers’ children very rarely attend school, as poverty forces them to work full time, even though the factory law provides for a maximum six-hour working day for children, I norder to evade the law and to work a full duay, children are hired under various names by two fac- | tories, working six hours in. each | factory, on the morning shift in one \and on the evening shift in the other. | In general, it should be noted that |female and child labor is very wide- il yadapted in India. Out of a total | of 2,681,000 industrial workers (en- | gaged) in enterprises with over 10 | workers) in 1921, there were 687,000 | women, i. e., about 25 per cent, Wo- |me nare specially numerous on the | plantations, where there are 94 wo- | men to every 100 men, and likewise in the mining industry (52 per cent), and the stonebreaking industry (42 per cent), and ete, | Child labor is similarly widely ex- |ploited in India. They are employed mos of all on the plantations (19 |children per 100 adults), in the build- ing industry (18 per cent), in the metallurgical (14 per cent), textiles (18 per cent) and mining (12 per cent). The eiisting Indian factory and mining legislation is extremely in- sufficient, and only to a very slight extent pesters the labor welfare of workers, paricularly of women and children, all the more because it is only rarely carried out and is broken most brazenly, The reformist lead- | |break the existing factory laws, {without thereby incurring any re- |sopnsibility. In India, factory in-| | spection is very badly organized. | |Many factories are altogether not | inspected, | | Such are the conditions of work- ers in India. It would seem that all | possible limits have been reached in regards to the exploitation of the working class and its standard of living. However, the Anglo-Indian bourgeoisie thinks otherwise. At | present we may feel a new pressure upon the working class in India, the jemployers are now making new and increased attempts to maintain the former high standard and profits at the cost o fthe workers. The Bom- | bay cotton industry, the Bengal jute |industry, the Tata steel foundries, | and metallurgical works in Jamshed- |pur an dthe most important rail- ways of the country are being ra- jtionalized. As a result the working | hours are lengthened, wages are be- ing cut down, labor is intensified jand housands of workers are thrown on the streets. This rationalized exploitation by the Anglo-Indian capital, the revolt- ing conditions of labor and unem- ployment, the merciless Anglo-In- dian imperialist oppression evokes |decisive resistance on the part of the Indian proletariat. In 1928 alo >, 200 strikes took |place involving 500,000 workers with \a loss of 31 million working days— ;more than the total for the last five years taken together. The Indian working class struggle is not now limited to narrow economize demands. It is aking up a political aspect and is directed both against Indian bour- geoisie and British imperialism, The working class of India, through nu- merous meetings, demonstrations and gatherings, are demanding the complete independence of India and the organization of an Indian Soviet Republic. ¢ HMowever, the united efforts of the workers of all countries of the Pacific Coast and the aid of he in- | ternational proletariat are necessary that the :truggle of the Indian work- ing class be successful. The aims of the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Con- gress wlich has the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat has con- vened for the 15th of Augus, 1929, in Vladivosto’, and to which repre- sentati ef the Indian workers ihave keen invited, are to organize a (united uticnary front of the ‘workin? of the Pan-Pacific jcount.’ ° + the common struggle agai lism and capitalism, 1. BURNS. what grain! Not like our. the sacks and wept for joy. “Oh, Mishka, Mishka! What o all like this. don’t make any noise.” Enormous! Mishka’s mother looked into good son you are, taking care of us Lie down a little and sleep. And you children, see you Mishka opened unseeing eyes and shut them again. Was that some one tramping on the roof, or was it the rain beating down? It didn’t matter! would be time enough to find out. a tree waved its branches. If only he could sleep! In the morning Overhead, right under the ceiling, Mishka threw back his head; the branches were weighed down with apples, great big ones, each as big as two fists. sleepy even to stretch out his hand “All right, it’s all the same . One fell down, right on Mishka’s head, but Mishka was too for it. . . only sleep... sleep...” Berioshka had a bad taste in his mouth. The tiny piece of bread he had eaten had only wetted his hunger. He licked his gums with his tongue and began to bite his nails, His entrails were all twisted up inside him and his belly ached badly. He saw that Mishka was asleep and began touching his sack, here and there. “Maybe he’s got some bread hidden away?” His hand encountered the tin cup inside the sack nad he thought: “Bread!” He was glad, and he was afraid. endl “Tf Mishka woke up! He’d beat me, or he’d say: ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? I take you along as a good comrade and then you go and act like a pickpocket.’ ” Serioshka held Mishka’s tin cup tight through the cena Ot the sack and thought: “But if I don’t eat up all of it ...? Still it would be a sin.” i “But I don’t do it onpurpose. I’m so hungry .. .” “Take it, if you’re not afraid.” 7 Serioshka’s thoughts were all tangled up. Take it, don’t take it, He was very hungry, but he would be ashamed to face his comrade. A deep drowsiness began to steal over Serioshka, to bow his head, to lull his body to sleep. Sleep! For a long time Serioshka struggled against the drawsiness, forced open his lids, jerked up his head, and clutched at the cup spasmodically through the sack. vis “I want to eat... .” “Sleep! To-morrow you'll eat all you want.” Heavy sleep overcame Serioshka and laid him with his head at Mishka’s feet. It felt warm and peaceful in his mouth. A tender voice said: “You ‘mustn’t steal. Patience. . . patience ... a little longer...” “tie cae 1 6 DAY WEEK GIVES USSR WORKERS MORE REST AND INCREASES PRODUCTION (To be Continued) vee The abolition of the 6 day week, the religious holiday, Sunday, is but little more than incidental in the decision of the Soviet government to inaugurate a six day week, five days for work and a sixth for rest. The new arrangement, which is to be completed by Oct. 1, 1930, will actualy increase the number of days of rest for the workers and at the same time it will increase industrial me eae, te, production and the tempo of the five year plan. With the inauguration of the six day week in industry, factories will not stop work on any day, except the chief Revolutionary anniver- saries, but at all times approxim- ately five sixths of the total number employed in the factory will be at work, one fifth of the workers re- ceiving their day of rest in turn. z (