The Daily Worker Newspaper, October 23, 1929, Page 6

i | League in this third period ly Publishing Co7 Ine. “A Y. Telephone Stuy hecks to the Daily Worker, re, New Sq rk ¢ Address and ally, excent Stinaa sant 1696-7-8. 6-28 Union Square, Cab! A few York, IWORK. N.Y. Diag fame wocher. Central Organ of the Communist Party of the 7. S 4 een ee SUBSCRIPTION RATES: it (in New York only): $8.00 a year; il (outside of New York): $6.00 a year; $2.50 three months $4.50 six months; it 0 three months $3.50 six months; The Party and the Anti-Imperialist Struggle. | By WILLIAM SIMONS, ry The struggle against American imperialism must become sharper, in view of the increasing imperialist war danger, the attack on the Soviet Union, the radicalization of the working masses and the up- ward surge of the revolutionary movement in the imperialist countries and in the colonies. August First was a big. step forward in sharpening the attack. Faced. by larger struggles, we should ask ourselves to what extent | x months | the Party is prepared. There has been during the past s considerable. agitation by our Party on the question of the war But. there is still in the ranks of the Party an underestimation on this important question. Especially is this true on the colonial question. We are still too provincial. We do not give enough support to the struggle of the colonial masses of workers and peasants against Amér- ican imperialism, We seldom raise the question of suppor of these struggles. We have reached the point where we speak of closer rela- tions with the Communist Parties in.the colonies, but we do not raise often.enough this question of supporting their struggles, despite the emphasis laid on this point by the Sixth World Congress of the Com- munist International in the Colonial Thesis. MORE INTERNATIONALISM. We wage a huge campaign on Gastonia; we carry on organization drives in the auto industry; but we fail to link up these struggles with the entire world ation. De fail to show the intimate connection of our textile organizatino campaign in the South with the tevtile cam- paign in British India, of the onia trial with the Meerut trial, which is the Indian Gastonia. We fail to link up the auto campaign with the situation of the auto slaves of Ford and General Motors Cor- poration in Argentine. We fail to link up the copper mine workers of Colorado with the copper workers in Chile. If we have teally grasped the real international spirit of the Tenth Plenum, we msut show it in our daily work. Our struggles in this country are not isolated srtuggles; they are part of the interna- tional struggle aganistimperialism. We fail to give enough support to the colonial struggles, despite the fact that throughout the world there is growing agitation on be- half of our struggles. In Argentine, for example, tremendous demon- strations have occurred on behalf of the Gastonia case, on the anniver- sary of the murder of Sacco and Vanzetti, and aainst Hoover while on his tour of South America. The fact is that in Latin America, especially, they have done and are doing more for our struggles than we are doing for theirs. But we cannot view this question as one of our doing something for them and they for us. It is one joint fight against American imper- ialism. In helping the colonial struggles, we are helping ourselves. Our recent demonstrations before the Mexican Consulates in New York and Chicago protesting the present white terror and deportation wave was a demonstration against American imperialism as well. The All America Anti Imperialist League has as its aim uniting al anti-imperialist forces for a struggle against American imperialist and for support of the colonial struggles. ‘The Party has in recent statement on the war danger called for full support to the work of the League. But to what exent have the district committees and the nuclei rallied to the League. Only to a very small degree. This is exampli- fied in the recent tour of the League reaching as far west as Minnea- polis. Adequate time was given for preparation, from 4 to 7 weeks. generally there was little or no preparation. The District Committees considered that they had too much toher work to do, a Gastonia meet- ing, some other meetin, in short, everything but this. The result? Except for Detroit, where the Palestine question was added, and where 500 attended, there was a small attendance. In many cities, including Chicago, the Party members did not even know ther ewas such a meet- ing. In Philadelphia, preparations for the mass meeting were not made; nad even for the organization meeting, many members of the A. A. A. I. L. were not notified. Chicago, which arranged: very good mass meetings on Gastonia, Party Anniversary, etc., issued a leaflet in Spanish and none in English, evidently on the theory: that anti-imper- ialist work was the work of the colonial workers themselves, thus ap> plying in practice the slogan of the opportunist Haya de la Torre of Peru that “the emancipation of the Latin Americans is the work of the Latin Americans themselves.” This view is still -too much in prac- tice in the various districts. that building the Anti-Imperialist League, supporting the struggle’ of the colonial peoples is the work of.the entire Party. THE GROUNDWORK HAS BEEN LAID. What did the tour accomplish? 1. It popularized the work of the Montevideo Congress of the Latin American Trade Union Confed- eration, and of the Francfort World Congress of the League Against Imperialism. 2. It brought out the growing importance of the col- onial struggles and raised sharply the need of support on our part through meetings and demonstrations. 3. ognized, and new ones establishes, so that we nnw have branches in the following cities visit Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Gary, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St, Louis, 4. A def- inite program of work was outlined for the branches. a. Meetings nad. demonstrations on the press events in Latin America and other_ colonial countries. b. organizations on the colonial question. c, A series of talks in the A, A. A..I. L. branches on the anti-imperialist struggle in the colonies, d. A eampaign for affiliation of otganization and individuals, and establishment of delegated bodies in each city. What remains to be done? The A. A. danger. A. I. L. organizations Yet | Existing branches were rec-. | | | | | j | | j | | | ~The Southern Battlefield The District Committees fail to realize | THE BUTLER AND THE BUS BOY. By Fred Ellis. By CLARENCE MILLER. (Written in Mecklenberg County Jail.) L The developing struggles in the South are a part of the developing struggles throughout the world. It is necessary for us to understand the nature of he issues involved, i. e., those arising out of the general process of rationalization of industry as well as those due to the peculiar conditions under which capitalist (accumulation of capital( developes in the South. Unless we bear these differences in mind it is easy to loose the significance of the struggle in the South. The industrialization of the South has been going on since the be- ‘inning of the 20th Century. Fhe mos rapid progress was made in the a seven or eight years. The figures to prove this can be easily ob- tainned but they are not accessible to me at this moment. Let me give just a few figures to indicate the extent o fthe industrialization of the South: bie The value of all manufactured products in the South in 1910 was $3,158,000,000. At the present time (1927 figures) the value is $10,- 371,000,000, i. e., an increase of approximately 328%. Capital invested in the same period rose from $2,886,000,000 to $6,883,000,000, an equally large increase. (Figures taken from Comrade Dunne’s pamphlet on Gastonia.) The following figures wil Ishow the importance of the industry of | the South to that of the country as a whole: A campaign of education in anti-imperalist | The total value of the manufactured products for the United States (1927 government estimates) was $62,375,000, while that of the South was $10,371,793,000; i, e., approximately 14%. For mineral products the totals were for the United States $5,520,000, and that of the South were $1,836,575,000, i. e., about 35% or more than a third. The industrialization of the South is best shown by the relation of the industrial and agricultural products. The gross value of all south- ern products (including agriculture) is $17,393,014,000, while that of, the agricultural products alone is $5,184,646,000 or.about one-third. In other words the value of the industrial products of the South’ is’ twice | that of its agriculture. in the various cities must carry out the program of work laid out at | the organization meetings. The work of building the Anti-Imperialist of post-war capitalism becomes of the ut- most importance. It must receive the full support of the Party in the various districts. Trial of 58 Workers Formulate China Anti- Outgrowth of Blood- StrikeLaw; Arbitration Bath, on in Rumania Is Made Compulsory: | VIENNA (By Mail),—It is re-- SHANGHAI, (By. Mail). — The ported from Bucharest that the | legislative council of the Nanking tvial the trial of 58 Communists has begun in Temesvar in connection |eral principles of the trade union with the bloodbath provoked there | law. According to these principles by the police on the 7th of April; workers in state institutions, schools, of this year. The accused are etc., will not have the right to form charged with activity against the | unions or to conduct strikes. The State arid with incitement to mur-| municipal workers are also included der. | government has worked out the gen- | One hundred and twenty wit-! nesses have been subpoenaed to give evidence as yet. On the 7th of April the burial of Comrade Foragy who | died in-the Doftana had labor pris- on was te have taken place. | The.authorities wished to prevent | demonstrations in connection with the funeral and the police therefore provoked bloody collisions with the workers. Yesterday the chief ac- cused, the trade union leader Kolo- man Mueller, declared that the ac- cused weer innocent and that the) police had attacked the workers. The) trial will probably last several days. eee | INVENTION HITS AT WORKERS | STOCKHOLM (By Mail).—A new type of engine has been devel- | oped by a civil engineer here which makes possible the use of crude oil for fuel in airplanes and engines. An Anglo-Swedish company with large financial resources has been organized to exploit the new engine, as a result of which great numbers of oil refinery workers will be thrown out of employment. U. 8S. HAND IN BANK MERGER. BERLIN, (By Mail).—With the aid of United States capital, the Deutsch-bank and the Diconto Gesell- schaft have merged. The new bank bi control most of the German ip- ate undertakings, 0 in this prohibition, Other categories of workers may organize unions, but for them also strikes will be illegal. All conflicts “and: differences, in- cluding wage differences must be settled by arbitration. The trade unions: are prohibited from taking up connections with foreign unions |and from. joining any international trade union organization, First of all, all. unions must discuss ques-| tions with the Kuomintang depart- |ments. The activity of the trade unions will be ‘supervised by ‘the authorities. Even the reactionary “North China Daily News” is of the opinion that the trade union draft “goes a little too far.” * ® SHANGHAI, China (By Mail).— | @he Settlement authorities have turned a millworker over to the) Chinese authorities on suspicion: of being a Communist. If the reaction- ary Kuomintang authorities want to arrest anyone in the Settlements they request their goods friends, the imperialists, to do this for. them. Provided the alleged Communist is a Chinese there is no trouble at all. There has not been the slightset change of procedure since the Brit- ish Labor Party got in power in England. F) +4 Build Up the United Front of | | | } | the Working Class From the Bot- j kings. aims | tom Up—at the Enterprises! .. IL The industrialization of the South had its effects on the whole social and political structure of the South. The outstandng effect. of course was the creation of a vast proletariat. It meant the beginning of a disintegration of the democratic party, whose free trade policies — were suitable to an agricultural South, but were no longer suitable for the industrial ruling class. Four of the ten southern. states “went” republican in the last elections. Of course, the Hoover policies of rationalization, and greater exploitation of the workers, played an im- portant part in winning the support of the southern. capitalists. The South is passing from a number of agricultural:centers into a vast industrial empire. The small town character of the South is passing. City planning, “ifprovement” of the cities, etc. as a part of building larger industrial centers is progressing. The»South is be- coming “cosmopolitan.” The “wounds” of the Civil War are being healed uy this wonderful balsam, northern capital.:’The Mason Dixon line is being broken down. The traditional hatred forthe Yankee (pro- viding he is not a labor organizer) is being replaced by frantic efforts to invite northern capital to invest in the South where “profits grow,” and where there are plenty of “docile Americans,” «The whole ideology of the South that was determined by the old slave is now undergoing a sharp change. Of course many of its characteristics are still here and help to make the South even now the most reactionary spot in the country. Til. i The tremendous industrialization of the’ South was possible only with the creation of a vast proletariat. Former mountaineers, hill billies and farmers, both Negro and white, their wives and children, now make up the southern working class. Many of the traits of the Pioneer as those of individualism and courage wete brought. into the ranks of the workers. But the life in the mill vMlage-and the work jn the large establishments ‘has tended to break the individualism of the Southern workers. The courage, though, of the southern workers still remains, and is @ valuable asset'to the militancy of the workers. That the southern worker is militant was shown inthe various strikes, even in those led by the A.F.L. and its Brookwood trained leaders who did everything in their power to break the militancy of the workers. © The low standard of living has forced large numbers of women, children and young workers into indystry. These workers’ form the most exploited section of the proletariat. Pith ball The traditional race prejudice that is so imbued in the South is being broken down. The herding together of the Negro and white workers in the factories, segregated quarters ‘of both the white and Negro workers are adjacent, are factors helping to break down the artificial barriers of race prejudice. But especially the extreme explo- tation of all the workers, irrespective of color, is throwng the workers common enemy. But to say that race pre- wrong, yet at the same time we must guard from overestimating this prejudice. a 4k oursel i ‘The extreme exploitation and the use of the state against the work- evs:in suelt open-and brazen manner in every little “labor disturbance” is teaching the workers thi The 100 per cent, American: class character of the state and its laws. e becoming class conscior in: The southern capitalist, in his relation to workers betrays many traits of the slave owner. The growth of capitalism in the South, has indeed once again shown the brutality of capitalism. The | | | | ‘to the wheel realizing our program. But the generally correct program . Of the Party was not applied yet to reach the vast farming and Negro taral delegate to the convention, and in sporadic activity here and there. _ problem of working out a correct program on these two vital issues is pression of the misery of the southern workers is probably expressed in | the Mill Village. It expresses the “paternal” attitude of the brutal slave owner to his slaves. The bad houses of the workers, the bad sanitary conditions and overcrowding, vividly call to the atention the description by Marx of the conditions of the Britsh workers in the sixties of the last century. “The intimate connection between the pangs of hunger of the most industrious layers of the working class, and the extravagant consumption of the rich, coarse or refined, for which cap- italist accumulation is the basis, reveals itself only when the enemies’ laws are known. It is otherwise with the ‘housing of the poor.’ Every unprejudiced observer sees that the greater-the centralization of the means of production, the greater is the corresponding heaping together of the laborers, in a given space; that therefore the swifter the accumu- lation, the more miserable the dwellings of the working people.” (Cap- ital, Volue L, pp. 721-722.) Not only is the housng very bad, but so is also the food even of the “better” paid workers. The food here hardly compares to food of the poorly paid workers of the North. The poor food results in dysen- tery, 4 very common sickness among the workers. The undernurish- ment. results in pellagra, that especially effects the women and children. The low standard of Jiving is driving the workers’ children into the mills, These children work under the same conditions as the older workers. The educatino of these children is very poor. Illiteracy is quite common in the South. Of course, we cannot go by the official statistics, because they consider every child that ever registered in school as literate, which is not true. Many children go to school for a few months and never return. Very few young workers went beyond the second or third grade. In a registration taken in the Youth Section of the Loray Local of the National Textile Workers Union before our. imprisonment, ths was shown to be a fact. The law requires that chil- dren only finish the fourth grade, and this is being flagrantly violated. Of course all of this goes on while the capitalists are piling up, millons in profits.- “If money, according to Augier, ‘comes into the | world with a congenital blood stain on one cheek,’ capital comes drip- ping from head to foot, from every pore with blood and dirt.” (L. C. | p. 834.) Vv The late development of the labor movement is shown in the scarce | use of social reformism. But the A. F. of L. and its Musteite leaders are on hand awaiting the bidding of their master. The mohe experi- | enced northern capitalists, the Federal Labor Department as well as | certain liberals are on the job with their advice to the textile magnates. The brazen, use o fthe state apparatus, the courts, and the troops in every little strike, is breaking the illusions of democracy. There is no question that the capitalist are going to resort more and more to re- formist methods, but the militancy of the workers and the betrayals of the A. F. of L., both in the recent strikes as well as that that occurred following the world war, will not stop the radicalization of the southern workers and offer splendid opportunities for our militant industrial unions. We therefore have the spectacle of the use of open fascist methods. The action of “law and order” mobs, murdering, kidnapping, beating and other methods to terrorize the workers. The result is only to ex- tend the class consciousness of the workers. In many réspects the fight in the South at this time resembles, in same respect, the struggles in the eighties of last century for the eight- hour day. We then had a growing capitalist class that was given an | impetus following the Civil War. The struggle at that time resulted in the “legal” execution of the eight workers in the Chicago Haymarket affair. At this time we have an attempt to railroad the seven of us. But 1929 is not 1886. We now have not only a Communist Party in the United’ States but we have a world Communist Party. What the work- ers were not able to do to save the Haymarket martyrs, they can do today. Workers learn their lesson. VI. “oS In the last period we find the Party fully awake to the struggles in the South: The Party has a program for work and has its shoulder masses of the South. The agricultural work of the Party has in the past always been confined to passing resolutions, having an agricul- The South offers us a splendid opportunity for agricultural work. Through the membership in the N.T.W.U. we have many connections with the farmers and tenant farmers. Some of the union members are also tenant farmers, There are plenty of issues, not only those arising directly from the agricultural crisis but also those arising from the administration of Hoover’s Farm Board. Of course Negro work is of, utrhost importance. Nowheres in our | program do we recognize that the large majority of the Negro masses of the South are in agriculture. In the past we always considered the work as a mere appendage to our union activity, Altho we understood that the Negro workers must be reached also op racial issues, we have done this only abstractly, and the reason for this was because we limited our Negro work to a mere appendage to the union activities. The . ill before the Party. VII. ea In considering the growing movement in the South, one might ask @ question: what are the factors that are making for the militancy of the southern workers at this time and not, say, a few years ago? Therz that the Party onlx Sn recent months | OF BREAD Reprinted, by permission, from “The City of Bread” by Mee 3 Neweroff, published and copyrighted by Doubleday—Doran, New ¥t | TRANSLATED FRO | THE RUSSIAN (To be Continued) They went on and on, for a long time. You couldn’t tell what was happening at all. Was the ground running or was the machine running? And which way was it running? You couldn’t tell whether it was backward or forward. Now it seemed backward, now forward. The whole earth sun round on one spot, and the machine carrying all the people tore through the air. At the bridges over the ravines the wheels thundered terrifycally, and the ravines rushed up at you like black gaping mouths. = Next morning it was a little better. Fields unrolled, signal huts flew past, mujiks on horseback, peas- ant women, children, villages. Mishka, exhausted from the night before, was fast asleep by the engine chimney. A woman was giving her child the breast. A mujik, with collar unbottoned, was picking lice off his shirt. One of the women shouted to the mujik: “Don’t throw it at me!” “T’ve lost my louse!” “Where?” : “Here!” 4 “You dirty devil!” “Don’t scold, I'll find it. It’s marked, so l’ll know it again—the left ear is split and there’s a white spot on the forehead .. .” As the came to an upgrade the engine began to slow down. puffed and whistled and came to a stop. “We're there!”—thought Serioshka. But one of the mujiks said to another: Something is wrong with the engine.” “Won’t we be able to go any farther?” “The bolts are loose.” A man in a black oily shirt crept out and began hammering at the wheels with a hammer. Then another man creptout. The engine jerked forward twice, then stopped again. The mujiks and the women jumped dowh from the cars in the clear warm mroning and hastily squatted down near the train to relieve themselves. Serioshka thought: “Tt seems everybody can do it here.” He also wanted to get down, but he was afraid of being left be- hind, and he held it in till he was ready to cry with pain. “Mishka, come down with me!” “Don’t ned to.” “I need to so badly . “Then jump down quick!” But just as Serioshka was about to jump down, the people began to shout: “Get on, get on, it’s going!” The engine, puffed, whistled, and glided into motion. sobbed. “I must get down!” “Wait a little, don’t cry.” In a moment Serioshka clutched conclusively at his trousers. “T can’t wait any longer!” “Wait, just a little, wait! Soon we'll come to a station.” Mishwa did not want any unpleasantness with the other passen- gers because of his comrade, but Serioshka’s eyes were staring out of their sockets and his face was white. é “What is it?” “I did it in my pants.” “Quiet! Don’t say anything! Sit down here.” Serioshka sat down near oné of the women. The woman said: “Where does that smell come from?” A mujik looked his way too. “Some one let something go!” “Something! Why it stinks like...” Serioshka felt better inside. He sat there quietly. Mishka nudged him. “Don’t say a word.” As it neared a station, the train entered a forest of cars; and heads, arms, legs, horses, and wagons spun by. They came to a stop at some distance from the station. Immediately the mujiks and the women began jumping down, and Mishka and Serioshka jumped down too. . Mishka limped a little on his left leg, and Serioshka had com- pletely forgotten how to walk on the ground. His head was spinning, his feet stumbled, and the cars swam before his eyes and the sky kept turning round and round, as if he were still on the engine. Mishka pulled him along after him. “Come on, come on!” “Where to?” ‘ “We can’t stop here, they’ll see us...” They got away from the dangerous place, and came out on a de- serted spot next to a high fence. In the grass Serioshka found a big iron nut, and was radiant with delight. Through his head flashed the thought: “They can use it at home!” But Mishka said, “What did you stick in your pocket?” “A nut.” “Throw it away!” “What for?” : “Maybe they’ll search us .. .” « It Serioshka Serioshka:scowled.. He did not want to throw away the nut, and. Mishka made him tired. Was he his master that he should stick his nose into everything all the time? He wouldn’t listen to him any more, And all at once every injury that Mishka had ever committed against . him rose up before Serioshka. His nose began to itch with indignation, He clutched the nut tight in his fist and thought: “Let hi mtry to knock it out of my hand!” Mishka began to lose his temper. “Throw' it away!” “Does it hurt you?” It did not hurt Mishka, but he was vexed that Scrioshka had found a good iron nut, while he, Mishka, had not found one, because the whole time he had to think about getting bread, and could not go along look- ing on the ground. “What did we agree-to do?” “What?” “To go halves in everything.” ~ “That was only for bread.” undertook activity in the South, and the workers did therefore not have any leadership. While the accusation against the Party contained in this answer is true, it is nota Marxian answer. The answer is to be found when we analyze the increased exploitation in the last period resulting from the rationalization of industry. It is. this increased pres- sure that is forcing the workers to struggle, Hence there were a whole number of spontaneous struggles. The task of the Party and of the militant unions is the coordination and direction of these struggles as well as the systematic preparations and developing of further struggles, The “sécond industrial revolution” theory that could see in the South only the growing capitalism, and not see that not only was capitalism being developed in the South, but that it was being rationalized with ‘treméndots effects upon the workers. This theory was so. engrossed in thé power of capitalism ,that it did not see the effect upon the workers, The results of our work in the South,-and the militancy of the workers has given a living denial to the Right wing posi of the Lovestone group and has verified the correctness of the jon. ohthe Comintern. fa) ste ———— “~