The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 8, 1930, Page 6

Published by the Comprodaily Publishing Co., Inc., Gatly t Sunday, at 26-28 Union % i; i Se: SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Page Four Square, New York City, N. Y. Telephone Stu -8. Cable: “DAIWORK.” ¢ aily sett By Mail (in New York City only): $8.00 a year; $4.50 six months; $2.50 three months Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, Union Square, New York, N. Y. By Mail (outside of New York City): $6.00 a y $3.50 six months; $2.00 three months “WORKERS CHILDREN IN ~ CAPITALIST AMERICA By MYRA PAGE. Central Organ of the Communist Varty of the U.S. A. NEGRO WOMEN WORKERS AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY <- Speed-Up and War Preparations in the Amer- y By ALBERTA TATE. HROUGHOUT the world: the women workers will celebrate Womens Day on March 8 under the leadership of the Communist Inter- national. This is lay set aside for the spe: purpose of mob all women workers f the class struggle, for bringing before the working class the need of uniting common struggle against the capitalists. Although the women workers are doubly oppressed in every capitalist country and are drawn in almost all industries as a cheap labor source, they are still unor; anized The women workers and especially the Ne- women workers who are the majority of the mi-skilled and unskilled workers are the worst paid and most exploited section of the working s International Womens Day provides an portunity not only to reach and organize the women workers but also to unite them with the male workers as equals in the class strug- gle. The women workers must come forward and take their place besides their working brothers, not simply as “helpmates” but as con- workers fighting for the interest of the working class as a whole. Women workers should on the occasion of International Day join the only Party of the working the Commu Party of the U. S. Every effort should be made to reach the mass es of Negro women workers and draw them into the class struggle. to get them to partake in demonstrations for International Womens Day. The conditions under which Negro wom- op- ‘om- | en must work are oppressive t They are 1 to perform for unbelievably than the white women workers, jected to humiliation, insult toil long hours in vile sweatsh« trades and similar industries wage of $18 and $12 a week domestic workers, they 12 and 15 hours a Many of them are forced to leave own children to roam the streets d risk of their lives, while they 2 the pressure of this capitalist to care and clean for e chi and the families of the rich. The terribly exploited Negro women must be ¢ in the revolu- tionary unions of the Union Uni League and united with all the class conse workers to fight against the ev unemployment, Ag persecution, trebly. opp: mobilized white, brown, The freeing of } will only be accompl with the presi fo: tasks low wa he paltry must slave day. their at the out un system ‘force society low wa gh rents, seg imperi ssed N shoulde er ) women workers must shoulder the world. | as white > do workers oppres- | farmers gov International Women to the full to accomplish hasten the solidarity and emanci the toiling masses of the U. world under the leadership of Parties. | ion of all nd the whole | Communist = Improving the Living Conditions. of Soviet Women Workers ane success of socialist construction in the U.S.S.R. has made it possible for the work- ers’ government to carry out further measures for freeing working women. The development of institutions of social importance which grow in » planned manner in the Five-Year Plan gradually abolishing one of the greatest con- tradictions of capitalist society—the contradic- tion between the drawing of women workers into ind rvation of individual homes. This tyrannical contradiction is one .of the great difficult in the struggle of working women in cap’ ist. countries, one of the chief things which hinder their political and cultural development. On the other hand, a sense of class duty urges a woman worker to go to a meeting or a demonstration. On the other hand, poignant thoughts “of hungry children, of washing and darning, of a thou- sand other cares of the household. Very often “the duty of the home” scores a victory—the woman remains at home. runs to the shop, cooks, cleans, washes, mends; turns like a sauir- rel in a wheel and is quiet at last only when her eyes close because she has not strength left to work. As a rule, women workers, peas- ant women, employees, have absoluteley no pos- sibility of making use of their day of rest. This state of affairs has existed for thou- sands of years. It is one of the most reliable supports of the bourgeois society: for it is be- cause of this that the forgotten, ever busy housewives are separated from social work, are guaranteed to a certain extent from being drawn into political life, are cut off from the revolutionary struggles of the working class. The capitalists strive by every means in their power to perpetuate this virtual serfdom of working women, they defend the “sacredness” of the home. While drawing women more and more into industry, they at the same time use all their forces so as to keep them near to the children and the kitchen. Only the Soviet Union, which thirteen years ago declared the full equality of men and women, is really carrying this equality into practice. The Soviet government is straining: | every nerve to free the working woman from all that turns her into a household slave. In the U.S.S.R. there are a number of institutions which look after the life and needs of women workers and peasant women—gigantic factory kitchens, public dining rooms, mechanical laun- dries, creches, kindergartens, playgrounds, con- — sultations, etc. The number of institutions which set woman free from her double work-~ in industry and in the home—grows from year to year. Making Progress Fast. Of course, it is impossible to fully meet the needs of all the workers in this matter, but the speed with which they are constructing these institutions to liberate women is no less . 34,000 this number cannot be cor as suffic According, to the plans of the Soviet government, there must be 180 places in creches for every thousand women. This | tremendous task has been fulfilled at present by more than 20 per cent. At the present time in the U.S.S.R. there are 40 places in creches for every thousand women work Children cretches are coming to the help of woman r only during the time she is working in a fac tory, but during the time she is studying or engaged in social work. Kindergartens SS... .107,000 1932-33 Children’s Playgrounds 000 193 ildren’s Consultations 1,469 1932-33... course, these figures are still very lov in comparison with the needs of women work- ers for children’s institutions, especially if we take into consideration the increase of the birth rate in the U.S.S.R. However, the systematic growth of these institutions shows the firm in- tention of the Soviet government to abolish the inequality of women in life. Besides the creches which are organized by the government a large number of them are organized directly by business institutions, co-operative socie groups of peasant women, etc. We have al- ready 797 factory creches for the children of the workers, there are many creches connected with large offices, large dwelling houses. Jn the villages of the U. R. the children’s insti- tutions look after 10’ 0 children; in 1932-33 they will look after 217,000 children. Kinder- gartens and children’s homes in the villages | fter 370,000 children in 1 these institutions will take in 676,- 000 children. During the Five Year Plan 94,340,000 roubles will be spent in the U.S.S.R. on cultural con- struction. Liberation of Women Workers. | If we look into another important sphere of | the liberation of women workers—social feed- ing—we seé that there are the same tremen- dous achievements. On October 1, 1928, the number of dinners served every day was 720,- 000. For the organization of public dining rooms it was proposed to spend 250 million | roubles during the five years, and at the end | of the five years to serve 5,600,000. However, the tremendous achievements obtained in So- cialist construction made it possible, during the current 1929-30 fiscal year, to roubles for the development of social feeding. At the beginning of 1930 the number of dinners served was increased to 1,400,000 a day. We have thus been able, during the second year of the Five Year Plan, to revise the first fig- idered | 217,000 506,000 2,692 | at her wor! ures of the plan and to extend them to a colossal degree. According to the changed plan for organizing public dining rooms, 1,500,- 000 roubles will be issued during the five years, and at the end of the Five Year Plan 20,000,- 000 people wil be served. By the end of the five years, 4,800 big fac- tory kitchens will have been built. The social- ist towns which are being built in the U.S.S.R. will have public rooms for the whole 100 per- cent of the inhabitants. Children and scholars than for other branches of industry in the U.S.S.R. Every new achievement in this sphere, which frees new sections of working women from home slavery, gives them the pos- sibility of joining in full measure in all the cultural and political life in all branchs of Sociaist construction in the U.S.S.R. The unswerving will of the Soviet govern- ment to continue with the work of freeing | working women from the burdens of backward- ness becomes clear when we see some figures from the Five Year Plan of industrial and agricultural economy in the U.S.S.R. In this matter we must take into consideration that since the Five Year: Plan will without the slightest doubt be carried out in four years, these figures will be considerably changed. to 100 per cent. The workers in various big industrial regions will be served to the extent of 90 per cent, and their families by 50 per cent. The workers in the towns will be served to the extent of 70 per cent and their families | 40 per cent. During the past year, all Soviets have set up commissions for investigating conditions of life. The task of these commissions is to seek out further measures for lightening the lot of working women. All these measures are creating a new life for the women workers of the U.S.S.R. They lighten her labor at home, and their influence is already beginning to be felt in the matter of freeing her from unproductive labor and as- sisting her cultural and political growth and making her in reality the equal of male workers. These’ colossal successes demonstrate to the whole world what can be achieved by men and women workers who have taken the govern- ment into their own hands. They are a guarantee that the greatest bur- den for the women of Russia under the czarist regime—inequality in living conditions—is rap- idly passing into the realms of history, Workers! Join the Party of Your Class! Communist Party U. S. A. 43 East 125th Street, New York City. I, the undersigned, want to join the Commu- nist Party. Send me more information. + NAME .....cceescccccececcrsesceecsverusens AAGTOSS ois cccccccsescmmeses Ult¥eseccecve Occupatio. . Age. Mail this to the Central Office; Communist 43 East 125th St., New York, N. Y, right through the U.S.S.R. will also be serves { I ws ge RNATIONA OMENS DAY TE general myth has been deyeloped thru- out the country by capitalist agencies that there is free and equal opportunity for all children to*get an education. But what is the actual situation? True, the public schools exist, yet there are 140,000 children between the ages of seven and fourteen years of age who are not in school at all. These children form part of the army of child laborers in the United States,. Numerous studies reveal that thousands of-other children are absent from | schools, months ata time, laboring on cotton, tobacco, cranberry and fruit farms, in canning factories and other seasonal industries; while thousands more are working before and after school hours, as newsboys, messengers, clerks, or doing factory work in their homes, and ‘being paid at the munificent rate of three to ‘ten cents an hour. As a result, these chil- dren’s health: becomes impaired and they fall behind in their studies. This is the “free” education in America, where the majority of labor’s children cannot hope to get beyond the grammar grades, for in spite of all the sacrifices and skrimping which working class parents make in order to keep them in school, they must leave at four- teen or earlier, in order to go to work. Only those of the most skilled.and best paid work- ers can remain in high school, and only a few of these can afford to stay until graduation. | The last census showed that: One out of every seven children | reaches ‘the fifth grade. | One out.of every four children never reaches | the sixth grade. H One out of every three never reaches the | | | never seventh grade. Almost one-half never reach the eighth grade, Less than one-third of the school age popu- lation enter high school and but one in eight | graduates. | These facts reveal the class basis of “free” education in the United States. In many working class areas, where wages are poorest By HARRISON GEORGE. NEVER must the working women of the NN United States forget the duty, as workers of an imperialist country, of every fraternal aid to their toiling sisters of Latin America oppressed and exploited by the same capitalists. Not merely because of abstract duty, but of genuine class solidarity based on the material foundation of common class interests. For the workers of the United States cannot be free so long as the workers and peasants of Latin America are subjected to the imperialist yoke of Wall Street. For example, do the working women who toil thousands in the p: ng houses of Chicago, now that their class sisters in the great meat ng plants of Swift and Company at Ro- 2 argentina, are now on strike against wage cuts, speedup. and long hours? Do they know that the Argentine mounted police, pro- tecting the interests of Swift and Co., have utally beaten the women strikers who have seen the first and bravest on the picket line, while the strike committee has several women vorkers actively directing the strike These are facts—proving that the Latin ican working women are in the battle ront, and against the same bosses as exploit us here in Chicago. Remember, too, the brave women of Colombia who led the strike of the banana plantation workers and who now lie in prison for fighting the United States Fruit Co. In Uruguay: in the same industry, the wom- en and gi struck bravely against the pack- ing house bo: who drive them to such a speed in stee rooms that one girl fell dead And not before the strike lasted and seven workers were shot ice on the picket line was their several wee! down by ¢ Your Interest in Latin America , fight ended, with demands partly won and an | Americano, and school facilities the worst, as in the south- ern textile districts and in mining areas, the average amount of schooling runs from three to four years, and illiteracy is very common. | One-fifth of the children of the highly ex- | ploited Negro workers and poor farmers re- | ceive no schooling at all, while the’ majority | are able to get one, two, or three terms of | six or seven months each. Illiteracy among the industrial and agricul- tural masses in this country is so great that United States stands tenth on the list of na- tions in percentage of illiteracy. Government figures place the number of illiterates within |, the country at five million, but other estimates place the actual total at twelve millions. One grave result of American imperialism’s rule over its colohies of Haiti, Porto Rico, Alaska, the Philippines and other territories has been the continued, enforced, ignorance of the toil- ing populations. From one-fourth to more than one-half of the total populations are illiterate, while child labor is excessively high, and general impoverishment has reached drastic proportions. So much for the boast of “free and equal opportunity for education in America.” Edu- organization established where there never be- fore was one. In the threat of war which hangs over Bo- livia and Paraguay, the working class women have stood with their men comrades in the revolutionary labor unions and the Communist Parties, vowing to paralyze both nations with a general strike and armed revolt if the capi- talist politicians, who represent U. S. imper- ialism in Bolivia and British imperialsm in Paraguay, dare to declare war. In a country near in Panama, the tradition of the Renters’ Strike and revolt of October 10, 1925, is a red letter day for the working women who battled the Yankee troops armed with bayonets that were called in by the lackey “government” of Panama. And only recently, in Panama City, the working girls have formed a union affiliated with the revolutionary union center. Working women of the United States, you will not be doing your first simple task if you do not, right away, establish correspondence with the revolutionary working women of Latin Amrica! Individual workers, and working women’s organizations, write to the striking women workers of Rosario, of Montevideo, to the revolutionary women of Panama. Letters to any and all groups may be sent through the “Confederacion Sindical Latino Calle Olimar 1544, Montevideo, Uruguay. Or through the following papers: “La Internacional, Independencia 3054, Buenos Aires, Argentina;” or to “La Justicia, Calle Yi 1629, Montevideo, Uruguay;” or to the Pan- ama women workers’ union as follows: “Sin- dicato Femenino, Catalina G. Palacios,’ Apar- tado 798, Panama City, Panama.” capitalism places upon working class children, who form the vast majority of the school age population, the severe handicaps of poverty, child labor, malnutrition and resulting disease. Dis¢rimination against labor’s youth in the public schools is widespread. The facilities in schools attended primarily by working class children, as in textile,.mining, oil and agricul- tural regions, and those in proletarian dis- tricts in the big cities, are notoriously poor. Classes are often over-crowded, buildings in need of repair; there are insufficient books and other supplies, and teachers”)are so over- burdened and usually so poorly paid that they cannot give the children the aid they require. There are exceptions to this statement, but this is the general rule. In middle class the Revolution in China vee revolutionary wave in China is rising. This is a phenomenom of unusual signifi- cance to the development of the world-wide yevolutionary struggles of the working class and oppressed peoples in the colonies. It is of the utmost importance for the American workers to have a correet@Marxist understand- ing of the events that are taking place in China. Although there are scores of old publications dealing with the Chinese revolution, ‘up till happenings in China has been lackingy Comrade R. Doonping’s excellent pamphlet, “Militarist Wars and Revolution in China,” which has just been off the press a few weeks, answers this need. It is a revised edition, with some new additions, of a series of eight long articles which appeared in The DAILY WORKER some time ago. The value ofthis pamphlet is clearly pointed out by Comrade Earl Browder in a forword in which he. said “The events of 1927, the period of the be- trayal of the revolution, were described in a booklet (“Civil War in China,” publihed by Labor Unity, 1927) in the form of the notes of an American participant in some of the events of that time, As the author of that descriptive pamphlet, which- dealt with the treacherous events at the time they were hap- penirig, I wish to recommend the present ‘book- let as the first analysis of these events and their consequences which has yet appeared in the English language. It is a permanent. con- tribution to the political literature on the Chi- nese revolution. As such it is a contribution to the world struggle to overthrow the rule of imperialism.” (November 21, 1929.) The pamphlet costs only 15 cents per copy and is on sale at the Workers’ Bookshops thru- out the country. The readers are also advised to read Comrade Browder’s pamphlet, “Civil War in Nationalist China,” published in 1927, which will provide the reader with the histori- cal background in order to have a better uned- standing of the events discussed in the new pamphlet.—B, R * °R. Doonping, “Nilitarist Wars and Revolution in Ching.” ‘Worlters’ Library Publishers, N. Y., New Pamphlet of Prospects of| now, a good Marxist analysis of. the current the following: f. neighborhoods, the schools offer a sharp con- trast. They are big, model structures, with every modern convenience, including gymnas- iums, swimming pools, auditoriums, well- equipped libraries, and large airy class rooms with twenty-five pupils per teacher. In work- Soviet Women Workers Meet With Foreign Delegates HE International Women Workers Trade Union Committee met with the foreign wom- en delegates visiting the U.S.S.R. to study the achievements of Soviet Women workers. There were ten women delegates from Germany and Austria, eight from Britain “and*America and six from France. > Many of the delegates described vividly the: position of thé. women workers ‘in:their home countries and @vew atention particularly to defects in rade gifionacthy teas carried on) among the wot workers.u:f, rench dele- teacher ranges from forty to forty-five up to fifty-five and sixty pupils. The most glaring instance of this class dis- crimination is furnished by the “Jim Crow” * system of schools, into which colored children are segregated throughout the southern states. These colored schools are small, ramshackle buildings. often without desks or pope or even window panes. Most of these ar® grammar schools, for few high schools for colored chil- dren exist.. State appropriations for schools | cation will never be really free, so long as | | | ing class districts, the number of pupils per | | Class Discrimination in the Public Schools. ican Schools. The stretch-out system is being introduced into the American public schools, and, of course, it is the workers’ children and the edu- vation workers who are suffering. Teachers’ and other education workers’ burdens have been increased by lengthened work day, larger classes, and the adding of new duties such as “extra-curricula activities.” In many lo- calities,. their pay has been held back because of “lack of funds.” The pressure for teachers’ conformity to capitalist dictates has tremen- ° dously increased, with school boards’ follow- ing open-shop and company-union policies. The growing ferment among this generally back+ ward group of workers is expressing itself in various ways. Recently a teachers’ strike took place in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and the teachers of Bloomington have threatened to strike if their back pay is not forthcoming. The capitalist class makes every use of the public schools to miseducate working class youth on all questions which vitally concern them, such as the role of labor in American history, unionism and the revolutionary move- ment, imperialist war, and the Soviet Union. This is done by legislative control of texts, firing of all teachers who refuse to follow reactionary instructions, and various means of propaganda used by the Power Trust, Amer- ican Legion, Chamber of Commerce, and sim- ilar organizations. If space permitted, many concrete illustrations of how this is done could be cited. Religious organizations also have their opportunities to propagandize youth in the public schools, while approximately 150,000 working class children attend parochial schools, run by the Catholic Church, in which the most violent anti-red and pro-Catholic propaganda is advanced, Ss: | With the approaching imperialist war, tne ruling class have increased their control of the schools and utilize them more and more as one means of preparing for imperialist war and war against the Soviet Union. Practically every state has made instruction in American History a compulsory subject, and the avowed purpose of this is “to inculcate sentiments of patriotism, to teach them the high duty of citi- zenship, both in times of peace and war.” Mili- tary training has been introduced into more than 58 high schools, and this movement is steadily gaining momentum, In Omaha, mili- tary training has been enlarged to include training for girls. The ruling class have had the active co- operation of the A. F. of L. The teachers’ union, affiliated to the A, F. of L., is very weak numerically and follows a no-strike, pa- cifist policy. The socialists and Musteites have complete control of the union, and use it as the base for their political maneuvering with the fakers, Working Class Struggle Against Imperial- ism’s Control of Schools. The American working class, under the lead- ership of the Communist Party, must vigor- ously combat these capitalist devices, All the forces of the Party, the YCL and the Pion- eers, must be mobilized, together with the T. U. U. L, including its revolutionary fraction of education workers. Working Class Councils of Education should be organized, as has been So successfully done in England, composed of representatives of all working class organiza- tions, including wage-earning parents’ associa- tions. An important political struggle can be waged by the C. P. against imperialism’s use , of ‘the schools, for abolition of the Jim Crow schools and all other forms of class discrimina- tion, for adequate school facilities in working class areas, for free milk and lunches in the schools, for militant unionism of education workers, especially the most exploited section, and for the overthrow of the capitalist gov- ernment and the establishment of a Workers and Poor Farmers’ Government, under which the American workers’ children will have, for the first time, a full opportunity for a gen- uine, working class education. Women Steel Workers and thi War Danger By ANNA ROCHESTER. [FON and steel industries employed more than 70,000 women workers at the time of the last census; 1920—an increase of 137 per cent over 1910. The next census will certainly show a far greater number of women employed in this basic war industry, for the boss class has dis covered that with the increase of machines women as a cheap labor supply can be used net only in light but also in heavy industry. Paid one-third to one-half less than men workers for the same job, women and young covered that with the increae of machines 10 hours a day, 54 hours a week in the great Pennsylvania steel industry and longer in other en workers, gate declared that én the vent of’ war'the men, and..women workers of Frarite fvould take the rifles offeredthem and turn. them against the} oppressors ofthe working class. Comrade» Moirova on behalf of the I. W. W. T! U. C. drew.the attention of the delegates to-the fact’that*it’appraising the achievements of the one orn in the U.S.S.R. it must not be forgotten when the workers took over power “the Ru: the czars was a vastly different place roi ty‘ it is now, and it was only by com} nditions then and now that one could any’ veal measure of the.achievements ataines Mby the Soviet wom- “After depicting in’ vivid. tionary situation and ‘the Way driving to the: left, Comrade‘ to the necessity: of giving. ‘revolutionary enthusiasm and energy the needédtead in the proper direction, She stated that the movement could record an influx of workers ftito the Red trade unions as well as into’ the:‘Communist Parties of the different countries.’ She con- sidered that it was also most important for the Red trade unions and 'the Party jointly to organize self-defense, the need for which was felt by every woman worker taking an active part in the fight for their class. The working class struggles must not consist solely in winning material improvements, the delegates pointed out, but must aim at winning | power for the working class and ushering in | the Distatorship of the Proletariat the world over. To accomplish this aim, women work- ers must organize more and more of their fel- low workers and carry on the fight with the energy they have already displayed. A si il De vary from five to.ten times as much per head for each white child as for each colored child. Teachers in colored schools are generally poor- ly trained, yet they must teach 5 to 7 different steel states. Where men coremakers in foun- dries earn 73 cents an hour, women earn only 44 cents. The usual pay for women in the steel industry ranges from 35 to 40 cents an hour. grades. . A worker employed by th i Education For’ Workers’ Children in Soviet Corp. at Wheeling, W. Va, patie satieae Union. at that plant earn $2.80 for a 1014 hour work The country that has faced the issue | ing day. . Six years ago there were pr: no women workers in this plant and homme are practically no men. Girls push their own trucks full of steel to their working places; Employment of women workers in such a war industry as steel is highly significant, In an imperialist war the master class sends men workers to die at the front while they. them- selves as owners profit stupendously from the vastly, increased demand for war materials, In so far as production can be carried on by wom- en workers) more men can be released for slaughter in capitalist armies. It was proved in all capitalist countries during the great im- perialist war of 1914-1918 that women could be used in Practically all the production processes of munitions and explosives plants. Similarly ne are yh ihiclattled in other chemical in- lustries, in electrical i Uae ape be plants and in iron and Class conscious workers realize t] - creased exploitation of women in basic ne Ma dustries helps the imperialist preparation for war against the Soviet Union. Only the Com- munist Party, the Trade Union Unity League and its affiliated unions are fighting the war danger. Steel workers, both men and women, are beginning to realize the true meaning of war preparations. They are beginning to or- ganize in the Metal Workers Ind jal ie under the leadership of the Trade Teague, ‘ of adequate; education of workers’ children is the Soviet Union. One of the first acts of the- workers’: government was a decree establish- ing a free public school system, for none exist- ed under the old regime. But the Soviet Gov- ernment. did not stop there. It recognizes as part of its responsibility the freeing of the workers’ children from the many handicaps which thesold, social environment had placed on them. The Communist Party, the Soviet Government, and the unions and cooperatives are all working together, in order to see to it that every child has adequate food, clothing, shelter and healthy surroundings and tna: no child labor exists, so that the masses’ children may, for the first time in history, get a real opportunity for education. The educational system is recognized ag the most progressive in the worl’, The children are not tavght to be unthinking robots as they are in this coun- try, but receive their all-round working class development through active participation in useful activities. These activities, or “pro- jects,” are grguped around three great themes nature, labor and human relations, Tilkteracy under the czar was enormpus, em- bracing usually over one-half the population, while in many areas, barely one-fifth could read and write: but the Soviet Governments is Tiquit this illiteracy at the rate of-over one péillion @ year, yeti isa | iett